A television advertisement of a child sitting on the back of a Great Dane caused quite a stir as well as an investigation this week in the United Kingdom. The photo printing firm Photobox received hundreds of complaints listing both safety hazards as well as animal cruelty allegations.
According to BBCNews, three television ads featured a family barbecue with the parents shown taking a photo of their son posing on the back of the family’s Great Dane. The accompanying voice stated:
‘This pleasant get together shall soon be shattered for a photo storm bruise. Mum, dad, weird cousin Brian, hold aloft your camera phones for you are about to capture gold.”
One of the complaints came from the RSPCA stating the photo could encourage parents to pose their children in unsafe and cruel situations. How many times do we see unaccompanied children acting too rough with their pets? How many times have dogs been euthanized because children have been left alone and accidentally injured?
Photobox stated the boy and the dog were filmed separately, and “at no point did the boy actually sit on the dog.” The company said a veterinarian was on the set during the production of the commercial and provided the Advertising Standards Authority with a copy of the vet certificate stating the dogs were never under any risk or suffered any injuries. The company did add that the scheduling of the advertisement was not shown around children’s programming so as not to encourage children to try the stunt.
What we do worry about however are the parents who would try that. We’re sure Photobox can do better and do more to keep pets and children safe. What are your thoughts?
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But they know that if a child sees this, they WILL try it. Brains truly absent in this ad.
Excellent reply – stupid people will consider this ‘fun’.
I hope the company is telling the truth. If so then they were very careful to make sure the dog was not abused.
a lot of these commercials do not realize that most folks don’t use common sense when it comes to their kids and animals. they see something of tv and say, “oh that is cute,” maybe I can get a pic of my kid. NOT!
Does it matter whether the boy was on the dog or not? It’s how it’s portrayed that is the problem. They are promoting a kid riding a dog, not a good thing at all! Some of the things advertisers try to push off on us anymore are disgusting, and this is one of them. The RSPCA makes a very good point, how many innocent animals and children could be hurt by this?
Why even plant this thought in some IDIOTS mind out there!?!??!