The Vodafone Ad

Was lazing at my friends place and he was watching some horrendous mallu movie where the 'Mr. I-Dare-to-Do' police officer Suresh Gopi flexing his 'toned up muscles' and some match in IPL. I got bored of this two, and nicked the remote to watch some other channels, or my favorite - the ads and was channel surfing and suddenly I saw a news in some channel about a controversy about the new Vodafone ad aired in India. Some one have alleged that the animal have been treated badly and kicking up some dust.

Curious about the issue, I goggled to get some more news about it when I got back home. Now, before you read further, watch the ad (if you haven’t watched it already)



I am not a great lover of dogs, but I don’t hate them. I think I can have one at my home, if some one else is taking care of them. For me, this ad is a very cute way to getting a message across.
I remember the old Hutch ad, where the pug used to follow a boy where ever he goes sending a message 'wherever you go, your network follows'.
Then hutch became Vodafone, but the pug stayed back in the ads. Now they have come up with a new ad, with a tag line 'Ready to help', which shows the pug helps a young girl. A very cute ad, I say.

The ad is on air for almost a month now, and now the Animal Welfare Board of India have sent a show cause notice towards Vodafone and the ad agency who created this ad. What irked them is the scene where the pug runs behind the but with a tie, and they says it could have endangered the life of the pug.

the ad agency said that there was a licensed vet around and certificates about the health of the pug was obtained before and after the shooting...

Now, to this jump in PETA, the NGO which is a part of many controversies. They tried to support the Animal Welfare Board of India, but am not so sure whether the job was a success or failure.

what troubles me is the policing in ads. First the uproar to ban all the ads which shows motorcycle stunts...now it is 'cruelty' against animals. What next? Do you really think making the pug run behind the bus amounts to cruelty to it?