Go Daddy Pulls Controversial Lost Puppy Commercial from Super Bowl Ad slot after backlash and outcry against puppy mills. An internet puppy mill, bad bad, GoDaddy.com Buddy the Golden Retriever Puppy finds his way home only to be sent away right away.
I just sold you on my new website I just built at Go Daddy.
Dog Lovers Boycott GoDaddy for Insensitive Super Bowl Commercial They Say Promotes Puppy Mills.
Jan. 28, 2015. GoDaddy has pulled its Super Bowl ad after viewers were upset about how it depicted a lost puppy.
The ad, a riff on Budweiser’s spot this year, featured a little dog who falls off a pickup truck and then endures long miles and rainy weather to make his way home. Once there, running up the dirt road to a big red barn, he jumps up to greet his owner.
“Look! It’s Buddy! I’m so glad you made it home,” she says as he jumps into her arms and licks her face, “because I just sold you on this website I built with GoDaddy.”
Cut to the puppy back in a van.
“Ship ’em out!” says the woman.
The puppy whimpers. We catch a glimpse that longtime spokeswoman Danica Patrick is the driver. Then the door slams.
The ad drew negative reactions immediately after it aired exclusively on TODAY. The domain name registration company attempted to mollify the crowd via Twitter, but pressure continued to mount throughout the day as the story spread online, especially through dog lover groups. A Change.org petition to remove the ad racked up over 42,000 signatures by day’s end.
Finally at the end of the day the company decided to pull the ad, releasing this statement by its CEO Blake Irving:
“This morning we previewed GoDaddy’s Super Bowl spot on a popular talk show, and shortly after a controversy started to swirl about Buddy, our puppy, being sold online. The responses were emotional and direct. Many people urged us not to run the ad.
We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress over the past two years, advancing the GoDaddy brand as a company that cares a great deal about small business and is in their corner to help them succeed. People increasingly know who we are, what we do and who we do it for. At the end of the day, our purpose at GoDaddy is to help small businesses around the world build a successful online presence. We hoped our ad would increase awareness of that cause. However, we underestimated the emotional response. And we heard that loud and clear.
The net result? We are pulling the ad from the Super Bowl. You’ll still see us in the Big Game this year, and we hope it makes you laugh.
Finally, rest assured, Buddy came to us from a reputable and loving breeder in California. He’s now part of the GoDaddy family as our Chief Companion Officer and he’s been adopted permanently by one of our longtime employees.”
the today show
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