Volkswagen defends singing dog advertisement

[Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0]

Volkswagen defends singing dog advertisement

 

The motoring giant Volkswagen has defended a controversial television advertisement which shows a dog cowering and shaking.

 

 

The 30-second advertisement features a Jack Russell happily "singing" in the front seat of a car with apparent "Polo confidence".

 

It then cuts to shots of the same dog shyly cowering by his owner's legs, while quietly mumbling the song under its breath.

 

The RSPCA is investigating the commercial after 286 viewers complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the dog appeared to have been mistreated.

 

Others expressed their concern on internet message boards, with one saying: "It made me uncomfortable... I don't know any way of making a dog shiver like that if it's living a happy life."

 

Volkswagen UK claims no animal was harmed in the making of the advertisement, and says the two dogs used were "highly trained".

 

The ASA investigated the complaints but said the commercial did not breach any of its rules.

 

However, the RSPCA said it remained "very concerned".

 

A spokeswoman said: "We have asked how it was filmed and have been told the dog was acting. But we are very disappointed that Volkswagen feel it necessary to portray a dog suffering to sell cars, whether it was genuine or staged."

 

She added that the dog should be wearing a harness while it is in the car, and should be travelling in the back of the vehicle.

 

The car firm, which also received around 60 complaints, has no plans to withdraw the commercial. "The dogs are highly trained. They can do almost anything. They can shake if they are happy or excited - they were not scared," a spokeswoman said.

 

"There is a fantasy element to the advert. We would hope that just as when people see the dog singing, they know it's not real, when they see it shaking, they know it is not really scared."

 

People are so dumb. As the last line of the article says, the dog singing is not real so why do they assume the shaking is?

 

For what it's worth, I think it's a quality ad, clever and amusing.

[MattM4 0]

Hadn't seen it before... but aye nice ad

[Toonraider 0]

Hadn't seen it before... but aye nice ad

 

Its my favourite ad at the moment. The dog shaking does make me go 'awwww' but I never thought it was really distressed!! As if Volkswagon would allow that!

[Meenzer 15873]

By all means ban the advert for being annoying as fuck, but not for that.