Most Horrendous and Tasteless Running Shoe Ad... EVER!
Replies
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I understood what they were trying to say about their shoes. I also think that the idea could have worked but the picture that was used was really just tragic-looking. I think if the dog was in a more goofy, "cartoony" pose of exhaustion, it could have worked better. But the dog looks like it was shot, not collapsed because it couldn't keep up with its owner.
It's far too serious-looking and the idea is actually much more humorous.0 -
I'm not really unhumorous or being 'politically correct' as I find alot of things people find offensive quite funny. But this actually upsets me...
I am the same way. Some of my favourite comedies are the raunchiest. However, I don't find this offensive, but I also don't find it clever or purposeful.
To those saying he is showing "compassion" by giving the dog CPR... compassion would not have been getting it to that point in the first place. Come on, fixing your mistakes isn't compassion, it's CYA.0 -
As would I, but you didn't answer part 2 of my question. Are you thinking of buying his brand of running shoes upon seeing this scenario? The intent of the ad was to sell their shoes, right? Fail, not matter how you look at it. They pulled it and apologized, so they know it was tasteless.
Like you I don't run with my dogs. And let me reiterate: if you saw a fellow runner giving his dog CPR because he ran it into a heart attack, would you be thinking about abuse or buying his brand of running shoe.I have two dogs. I don't take them with me when I'm running, cause they would probably drop dead trying to keep my pace.
And how on earth is that ad "promoting animal cruelty"? Did you even read the small print, where they provide a link to dog CPR? I think altogether that ad is pretty awesome, if you run with the dog -- learn dog CPR, in case your dog got hurt. Or cry online how sensitive you are. Your call.
Like a dog lover and a decent human being, I would run and help the man anyway possible. Not judge the guy helping his dog by giving him CPR...
Hell yeah I am going to buy their shoes. This PC bull shyt has gone so far to the left it is sad. As far as pulling the advertisement, they pulled it because of people like you and others that brain f uck everything.
they pulled it after it served its purpose. they got a lot more people to view the ad than if it had been more bland.
this isnt a fail. its a success.0 -
Really people?
Its not like the animal shown is being abused...its a joke showing that if you get those shoes, you'll run so good your dog won't be able to keep up. Chill out and get a sense of humor.
What has society come to?
It's not saying your dog can't keep up -- it's saying your dog will die trying to keep up. I can't believe people find this amusing. How about an ad for a swimming pool saying "this pool is so awesome, all your children will drown!"0 -
Really people?
Its not like the animal shown is being abused...its a joke showing that if you get those shoes, you'll run so good your dog won't be able to keep up. Chill out and get a sense of humor.
What has society come to?
It's not saying your dog can't keep up -- it's saying your dog will die trying to keep up. I can't believe people find this amusing. How about an ad for a swimming pool saying "this pool is so awesome, all your children will drown!"
IDK, if they're drowning from having fun and it links to safe swimming practices, I'll be OK with it. Because like a reasonably responsible person, I know what a advertisement is and I know where my responsibility for my children and pets kick in.0 -
Really people?
Its not like the animal shown is being abused...its a joke showing that if you get those shoes, you'll run so good your dog won't be able to keep up. Chill out and get a sense of humor.
What has society come to?
It's not saying your dog can't keep up -- it's saying your dog will die trying to keep up. I can't believe people find this amusing. How about an ad for a swimming pool saying "this pool is so awesome, all your children will drown!"
IDK, if they're drowning from having fun and it links to safe swimming practices, I'll be OK with it. Because like a reasonably responsible person, I know what a advertisement is and I know where my responsibility for my children and pets kick in.
LOL, you may be one of a select few who are OK with an ad showing a swimming pool full of dead children. It's not about political correctness or sense of humor, it's about how the images might make someone feel.
It makes me sad to see a picture of a runner (or anyone) giving CPR to his dog. Swimming pool full of corpses . . . meh. But I could see how it might bother some.0 -
Really people?
Its not like the animal shown is being abused...its a joke showing that if you get those shoes, you'll run so good your dog won't be able to keep up. Chill out and get a sense of humor.
What has society come to?
It's not saying your dog can't keep up -- it's saying your dog will die trying to keep up. I can't believe people find this amusing. How about an ad for a swimming pool saying "this pool is so awesome, all your children will drown!"
IDK, if they're drowning from having fun and it links to safe swimming practices, I'll be OK with it. Because like a reasonably responsible person, I know what a advertisement is and I know where my responsibility for my children and pets kick in.
LOL, you may be one of a select few who are OK with an ad showing a swimming pool full of dead children. It's not about political correctness or sense of humor, it's about how the images might make someone feel.
It makes me sad to see a picture of a runner (or anyone) giving CPR to his dog. Swimming pool full of corpses . . . meh. But I could see how it might bother some.
wait wait wait, nobody said anything about dead babies. You said drowning from fun. And since we're discussing the ad linked, it will be OK to assume that the drowning kids will be accompanied by adults who know how to properly take care of such situations. Don't make the matter morbid just to prove a point (which, you didn't btw)0 -
i get the concept but poorly executed0
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LOL, you may be one of a select few who are OK with an ad showing a swimming pool full of dead children. It's not about political correctness or sense of humor, it's about how the images might make someone feel.
It makes me sad to see a picture of a runner (or anyone) giving CPR to his dog. Swimming pool full of corpses . . . meh. But I could see how it might bother some.
Little bit of spurious logic there going from a guy giving his dog CPR because it can't keep up with his new running shoes to a pool full of dead children. It shouldn't be necessary to explain the ad or point out why it is humorous but I guess this is where the advertisers overestimated the intelligence of those who would see it. Happens all the time and a few people complain, usually a very few.0 -
I think she made the point just fine. It is irresponsible to have to either: give a dog a heart attack or have drowned children in your pool. Regardless of whether you know of how to deal with it. A responsible person would never let a matter escalate to that point. And, in advertising, it is VERY distasteful to refer to animals or children in distress. As some posters have suggested, the very distastefulness of it, may have increased their visibility and therefore may increase their sales. Personally, I doubt it. It would be interesting to see their sale's figures after this.Really people?
Its not like the animal shown is being abused...its a joke showing that if you get those shoes, you'll run so good your dog won't be able to keep up. Chill out and get a sense of humor.
What has society come to?
It's not saying your dog can't keep up -- it's saying your dog will die trying to keep up. I can't believe people find this amusing. How about an ad for a swimming pool saying "this pool is so awesome, all your children will drown!"
IDK, if they're drowning from having fun and it links to safe swimming practices, I'll be OK with it. Because like a reasonably responsible person, I know what a advertisement is and I know where my responsibility for my children and pets kick in.
LOL, you may be one of a select few who are OK with an ad showing a swimming pool full of dead children. It's not about political correctness or sense of humor, it's about how the images might make someone feel.
It makes me sad to see a picture of a runner (or anyone) giving CPR to his dog. Swimming pool full of corpses . . . meh. But I could see how it might bother some.
wait wait wait, nobody said anything about dead babies. You said drowning from fun. And since we're discussing the ad linked, it will be OK to assume that the drowning kids will be accompanied by adults who know how to properly take care of such situations. Don't make the matter morbid just to prove a point (which, you didn't btw)0 -
I'm sorry, it makes me laugh too. Obviously just supposed to be funny. You must not watch a lot of comedies.0
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Really people?
Its not like the animal shown is being abused...its a joke showing that if you get those shoes, you'll run so good your dog won't be able to keep up. Chill out and get a sense of humor.
What has society come to?
It's not saying your dog can't keep up -- it's saying your dog will die trying to keep up. I can't believe people find this amusing. How about an ad for a swimming pool saying "this pool is so awesome, all your children will drown!"
IDK, if they're drowning from having fun and it links to safe swimming practices, I'll be OK with it. Because like a reasonably responsible person, I know what a advertisement is and I know where my responsibility for my children and pets kick in.
LOL, you may be one of a select few who are OK with an ad showing a swimming pool full of dead children. It's not about political correctness or sense of humor, it's about how the images might make someone feel.
It makes me sad to see a picture of a runner (or anyone) giving CPR to his dog. Swimming pool full of corpses . . . meh. But I could see how it might bother some.
wait wait wait, nobody said anything about dead babies. You said drowning from fun. And since we're discussing the ad linked, it will be OK to assume that the drowning kids will be accompanied by adults who know how to properly take care of such situations. Don't make the matter morbid just to prove a point (which, you didn't btw)
Sorry, I thought it was already morbid. Sort of by definition. If you didn't find it to be so, I understand why you can't relate to that response.0 -
I saw a commercial a while ago from A-1 steak sauce where a man was eating a nice steak and his dog was eating dog food. The camera was on the dog and the dog was making the noises dog make while eating. The dog finished eating its food yet the noises continued. The camera focused on the man eating and licking his plate like a dog. It was a commercial for A-1.
Now, I'm sure you folks were offended by that too and to prove your offense, you will say something about it being equivalent mentally challenged kids who can't use their limbs to eat properly. Its sad really.0 -
You're all assuming that this was his dog that he is giving CPR to. Did it ever occur to you that maybe he found the dog on the side of the road? That the actual owner of said dog is out of the picture and completely freaking out because her dog keeled over and this guy just happened to run by and knows canine CPR?
Or what if the dog actually got bit by a snake and he's trying to squeeze the venom out.
Or perhaps the dog impaled itself on a branch that was sticking up out of the brush and the man is trying to stave off the bleeding.
And for the record I really had no feelings about the picture. I wasn't outraged or sad nor did I laugh. In all honesty I had no idea what the actual ad was for and right there is where I feel they failed with their marketing.0 -
i didn't think it was funny...i found it to be extremely bizarre0
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I wouldn't be offended by that. I lick my plate and make dog noises when I have steak with A-1. :happy: :flowerforyou:I saw a commercial a while ago from A-1 steak sauce where a man was eating a nice steak and his dog was eating dog food. The camera was on the dog and the dog was making the noises dog make while eating. The dog finished eating its food yet the noises continued. The camera focused on the man eating and licking his plate like a dog. It was a commercial for A-1.
Now, I'm sure you folks were offended by that too and to prove your offense, you will say something about it being equivalent mentally challenged kids who can't use their limbs to eat properly. Its sad really.0 -
Am I the only one who saw that pic and thought "this is evidence for the endurance running hypothesis of human evolution?"
on a more serious note... yes I agree that pet owners need to be aware that most other mammals are not adapted for running long distances. We sweat over our whole bodies and have very little hair compared to other mammals. Most other mammals evolved to sprint (either to escape danger or catch prey) for short distances. Humans are crap sprinters but can run marathons. It's thought that our ancestors circa 2 million years ago hunted by running their prey literally to the point of heat exhaustion, i.e chase it, it gets away, track it, chase it again, it gets away again, track it, chase it.. never let it rest or cool down, for hours if necessary, until it collapses from heat exhaustion. But humans with our relatively hairless bodies and ability to sweat all over can endure the distance and the heat and survive the chase and win. So don't expect your pets to be able to do the same as they're not physiologically adapted to it. And humans wouldn't want to run marathons wearing a fur coat that they're unable to remove.
As for the ad... tasteless, well somewhat, but I'm expecting they're going for shock value to get more attention to their brand, and obviously the dog's acting. And I think it's a good thing for pet owners to be trained in how to do CPR on their pet, and if the ad gives people the message that a) most other mammals can't do endurance running like humans do and b) learning CPR for your pet is a good idea, then actually I think it's a very good ad. I'd never heard of CPR for dogs before, nor was I aware that some people take their dogs on very long runs that are too much for dogs to cope with.0 -
LOL, you may be one of a select few who are OK with an ad showing a swimming pool full of dead children. It's not about political correctness or sense of humor, it's about how the images might make someone feel.
It makes me sad to see a picture of a runner (or anyone) giving CPR to his dog. Swimming pool full of corpses . . . meh. But I could see how it might bother some.
Little bit of spurious logic there going from a guy giving his dog CPR because it can't keep up with his new running shoes to a pool full of dead children. It shouldn't be necessary to explain the ad or point out why it is humorous but I guess this is where the advertisers overestimated the intelligence of those who would see it. Happens all the time and a few people complain, usually a very few.
Well, the dog is obviously supposed to be dead. You don't give CPR to a live animal. So yeah it is taking it a step further, but in my mind joking about humans being dead is not qualitatively different. Not sure what it has to do with intelligence.
Generally, jokes are funny because they are an exaggerated or unexpected version of the truth -- so it might be funny if there was an entire pack of dead animals scattered around the guy, but one dead dog? That's not funny . . . it's just a dead dog.0 -
Pssst: The dog probably wasn't actually dead!:flowerforyou:0
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I wouldn't be offended by that. I lick my plate and make dog noises when I have steak with A-1. :happy: :flowerforyou:I saw a commercial a while ago from A-1 steak sauce where a man was eating a nice steak and his dog was eating dog food. The camera was on the dog and the dog was making the noises dog make while eating. The dog finished eating its food yet the noises continued. The camera focused on the man eating and licking his plate like a dog. It was a commercial for A-1.
Now, I'm sure you folks were offended by that too and to prove your offense, you will say something about it being equivalent mentally challenged kids who can't use their limbs to eat properly. Its sad really.
If I was a dog I'd be offended that the dog got boring dog food while the human got to eat steak. :sad:0 -
I wouldn't be offended by that. I lick my plate and make dog noises when I have steak with A-1. :happy: :flowerforyou:I saw a commercial a while ago from A-1 steak sauce where a man was eating a nice steak and his dog was eating dog food. The camera was on the dog and the dog was making the noises dog make while eating. The dog finished eating its food yet the noises continued. The camera focused on the man eating and licking his plate like a dog. It was a commercial for A-1.
Now, I'm sure you folks were offended by that too and to prove your offense, you will say something about it being equivalent mentally challenged kids who can't use their limbs to eat properly. Its sad really.
If I was a dog I'd be offended that the dog got boring dog food while the human got to eat steak. :sad:
If I was a dog, I'd be offended at the joke implying that dogs and humans are equal. Clearly dogs are better people than people.0 -
You say you have a degree in marketing; so you must have heard the expression, 'There's no such thing as bad publicity'
Looks like you played right into their hands!
I think it was just a funny ad, that seems to have made the most of us smile!
(from yet another dog owner)0 -
I have heard of it. And I disagree. Small businesses fail all the time because of word of mouth bad reviews. Larger ones can be devastated by bad advertising campaigns even when it goes 'viral'. Ask Tiger Woods if he wanted all his "bad publicity" a couple of years back. And yes, I know he recovered from it, but at the time he lost half of his sponsors. Maybe, in this case, it helped them, but I doubt it was deliberate.You say you have a degree in marketing; so you must have heard the expression, 'There's no such thing as bad publicity'
Looks like you played right into their hands!
I think it was just a funny ad, that seems to have made the most of us smile!
(from yet another dog owner)0 -
Really people?
Its not like the animal shown is being abused...its a joke showing that if you get those shoes, you'll run so good your dog won't be able to keep up. Chill out and get a sense of humor.
What has society come to?
It's not saying your dog can't keep up -- it's saying your dog will die trying to keep up. I can't believe people find this amusing. How about an ad for a swimming pool saying "this pool is so awesome, all your children will drown!"
IDK, if they're drowning from having fun and it links to safe swimming practices, I'll be OK with it. Because like a reasonably responsible person, I know what a advertisement is and I know where my responsibility for my children and pets kick in.
LOL, you may be one of a select few who are OK with an ad showing a swimming pool full of dead children. It's not about political correctness or sense of humor, it's about how the images might make someone feel.
It makes me sad to see a picture of a runner (or anyone) giving CPR to his dog. Swimming pool full of corpses . . . meh. But I could see how it might bother some.
Yeah, we dont want to hurt anyone's feelings now do we? This country has turned to shyt0 -
Pssst: The dog probably wasn't actually dead!:flowerforyou:
Jennie, I am really starting to like you...:drinker:0 -
I've seen far more offensive ads from athletic shoe companies.
But if it bothers you, instead of complaining about it here, (which only gives them more publicity!!), complain to the head office of the company who makes the shoes. It certainly made an impression with Reebok after they had an offensive ad.0 -
actually, dogs can't out-preform humans, humans are designed for long distances, dogs, who pant to cool, are not designed for long distance but rather short, fast distances. harumph.0
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< huge dog lover.
I have a policy at work - no sad dog stories. I don't like to hear about sad dog stories, I am a big baby. When I first looked at the pic, I didn't get it but it was sad (obviously) and I wasn't exactly happy about it. Once I realized what the joke was (read the writing), I got it. I'm not a huge fan but I don't exactly consider it offensive.
Is it going to make me go buy them? No.
Did it catch my attention? Yes.
I didnt read the other posts, I didn't want to be influenced by others so I came to answer first. Going back to catch up.0 -
I did let them know my thoughts on it. I posted it here because (as a runner/dog owner and someone interested in marketing/advertising) I wanted to hear other people's honest opinions on it, which I appreciate. :flowerforyou:I've seen far more offensive ads from athletic shoe companies.
But if it bothers you, instead of complaining about it here, (which only gives them more publicity!!), complain to the head office of the company who makes the shoes. It certainly made an impression with Reebok after they had an offensive ad.0 -
advertising is supposed to attract customers, not repulse them.
in that regard, this is a bad ad.
however, there is a silver linging... cats may like it a lot.
however, i'm not sure what the market is for running shoes for cats and how much disposable income cats have.
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