Victories in the Good Fight
At times it seems like the anti-Rottie sentiment in this country is so overwhelming that even the most optimistic of us can be disheartened. That is why I am delighted to pass along two major victories that have taken place in the past few weeks. Both of the battles involved major corporations, and the victory for both fights can be directly credited to letter writing campaigns by lowly dog owners, just like you and me.
Scoring A Foul Shot
Energizing music spills through your TV speakers. The scene on the screen is an inner city basketball court. Players battle each other in an intense game, each person performing an even more daring and acrobatic move than the last. Of course there many, many close up shots of their shoes; this is advertisement for those shoes after all.
And then suddenly, the scene changes for just couple of seconds then cuts back to the game. You blink your eyes in disbelief and think, "I did NOT just see that!"
What you just saw, spliced in this commercial for athletic shoes, was a split second scene of two dogs lunging at each other. One was a white, pit-bullish looking dog and the other was a Rottweiler. The dogs were on leash, but their handlers were out of the shot. They were obviously being spared against each other, but the camera cut back to the basketball game in the instant before the two snarling dogs actually make contact.
This isn't a hypothetical situation. The commercial, entitled "The Battle", was the first in a major advertising campaign set up to advertise Nike's latest line of basketball shoes. And the response from the dog world and humane organizations across the board was immediate and condemning.
In an era in which shows like "Animal Patrol" and "Animal Cops" are considered hit TV shows, it's amazing that Nike did not realize the trouble they would cause before even making the commercial. They were about to find out.
The complaints immediately started pouring in from upset dog owners across the country, especially those with Rotties and the bully breeds. They said that how dare Nike perpetuate such a stereotype after these dedicated owners had worked for years to make their dogs accepted by the community. People wrote about the trouble that they getting homeowners insurance because of the breed discrimination that the ad would no doubt further encourage. And didn't Nike realize the horror of the dog-fighting ring?
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