No one wants to see a cute little puppy sold online to new owners and GoDaddy.com learned that the hard way. The company released a preview of their 2015 Super Bowl ad, "Journey Home," on Tuesday morning and it was immediately slammed by animal rescue groups.
GoDaddy's ad was trying to mock Budweiser's "Lost Dog" Super Bowl commercial, which is a sequel to its very popular "Puppy Love" ad released during the 2014 game, according to Fox News. In the GoDaddy commercial, a puppy named Buddy is seen riding in the back of a pickup truck with his mom and sibling.
When the truck hits a bump in the road Buddy is thrown off the back of the truck but eventually makes his way home. As little Buddy runs up to his owner, the lady says she's glad he made it home safely and reveals that she had sold him on her new website she used through GoDaddy.com.
"If you can buy a puppy online and have it shipped to you the next day, it's likely you're supporting inhumane breeding. #GoDaddyPuppy," one user tweeted.
Just moments after the commercial aired, hundreds of people flocked to Twitter to express their dislike with it. It was even labeled as animal cruelty and a Change.org petition was started demanding GoDaddy not air the ad during the football game on Sunday.
"The sale of animals online and from pet stores and breeders should be roundly condemned," PETA spokespeople said.
GoDaddy quickly caved under the pressure and by Tuesday afternoon announced that it was pulling the ad.
"What should have been a fun and funny ad clearly missed the mark and we will not air it," CEO Blake Irving posted on Twitter.
He later added a longer message on the company's website:
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 understand the emotional response. And we heard that loud and clear. 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.
