Verizon Wireless TV commercial has dog lovers in an uproar


Posted on Jul 24, 2008
By Julia Szabo

A new TV commercial for Verizon Wireless has drawn the ire of dog lovers. In the spot, a young man climbs over a fence into a junkyard to try to get to an LG cellular phone, awakening two sleeping Pit Bulls guarding the yard. As the guy gets close enough to touch the phone, he just misses the dogs, who reach the end of their heavy chains, stopping short of catching him with their bared fangs.

The commercial exploits the stereotype of the Pit Bull as a snarling, vicious monster in chains. But no dog should ever be chained, and the rescue of the 50 Pits kept by convicted dogfighter Michael Vick proved the "vicious" stereotype dead wrong. One of the former Vick dogs, Leo, a.k.a. "Dr. Leo," now visits hospitals in California, spreading love to patients as a therapy dog.

Best Friends Animal Society, the Utah sanctuary that is sheltering and rehabbing the former Vick dogs, is circulating an online petition. Angry Verizon subscribers are switching their BlackBerrys to other providers in protest. Yet despite the Humane Society of the United States asking Verizon to pull the ad, the company refuses, as reported in Advertising Age.

"These are fictional ads, designed to be over-the-top, to break through the clutter and get our message across," said Verizon Wireless spokesperson Brenda Raney. 

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