The John Lewis Christmas advert contains scenes that many dog lovers have found offensive. I started a Facebook page which 1000 people joined in the first twenty four hours, and there is a petition too which within a day had over 1000 signatures.
John Lewis ignored us, then they fobbed us off then they misled us. This is the email that was sent to me, it is this wording which caused a story to run in my local paper which was picked up by the Telegraph (who did not contact me) :
We have taken into account all comments from people who have viewed our Christmas TV advert. The theme focuses on the tradition of buying, hiding and wrapping presents for loved ones. We've received lots of positive comments, but we are aware that a small number of people don't like the final scene of the advert. Our intention was to portray a poignant moment where the little boy shows affection for his dog by putting a stocking on his kennel. We purposely show a lovingly decorated kennel and the breed of dog was specifically chosen as one that is used to being outside some of the time. Rannoch is a well loved pet and his owner is very happy with how he is portrayed. We also had a dog handler present at the shoot (approved by the animal consultants and trainers association), and our advert was approved by an independent body, who ensure that no scenes are shown that encourage the mistreatment of animals. We are genuinely sorry if this scene has caused any concern. This weekend we will be launching shorter versions of our advert which have a different ending.
That makes it sound like they are responding to us and changing the ad - when in fact they are not. That is the statement that is now misleading the BBC News Online to run with the story that John Lewis has changed the ad in response to our protests, well they haven't and here's the email I had from John LEwis that proves it:
Thanks for the chat earlier. As promised here's a few lines to confirm our conversation.
The 60-second version of our commercial will continue to run until the end of this weekend with the dog scene still in. There may be other occasions between then and the 18 December where this version of the ad will run but these will be rare.
There are two new 30-second versions of the commercial which air from tomorrow and these do not contain the dog scene. As I said, it was always our plan to introduce shorter versions at this time and indeed there may be other versions which we run later on in the campaign.
We do really appreciate your feedback and whilst we'll probably never agree on this specific scene, I hope you can at least see that we have listened to the many different opinions about the commercial and made our decisions with the best intentions.
John Lewis is proceeding exactly as they were before - they have not listened to or addressed our complaints at all. BUT they are misleading the BBC and the media in general into thinking they are doing so. I spoke to a journalist from the BBC who said that they can only run with what they are given - well I am going to run with what I was given.
John Lewis are using a misleading statement to fool the media into thinking that they have changed the advert in response to complaints, but they are still running the ad, will run it as and when they want to until the 18th of December and they have indicated no intention of changing course.
If you have a blog or you are a member of a dog forum - or any Internet site that you can repost this post, please do so. Include a link to the Facebook Stop The John Lewis Christmas Ad page and help get the truth out - because otherwise this may be the only place you read it.
Facebook page : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-the-John-Lewis-Christmas-Ad/170227882...
Up until now I avoided posting links to the DogCast Radio site as I do not want to cash in - or be perceived as cashing in - on this furore. However, at the moment this is the best forum to post the full contents of this post and get the truth out.
Finally, it's not the specific dog in the ad or his treatment that has sparked all this; the message of the ad is that it's ok to keep a dog outside in the snow in inadequate shelter. This is dangerous and wrong for so many reasons. United we can have a strong, effective voice and speak up for animals. Don't let John Lewis have his cake and eat it.
Take care,
Julie xx
Well ths morning I tried to
Well ths morning I tried to get on the FACEBOOK page and I can't,
all my comments and updates have disapeared from my page,
Has Facebook taken it down?
Hi Julie Seem to have been
Hi Julie
Seem to have been blocked from the Stop John Lewis site :-( ....... my account was hacked last nght and loads of messages with a link in them were sent out so am hoping that didn't happen on the site. I had no idea they were going out until friends started commenting. Opening the link resulted in more messages being sent from the affected account. I am just hoping you didn't get one. If you did I can only apologise but emphasise it wasn't me. I have supported the cause.
Lesley
There is no doubt whatsoever
There is no doubt whatsoever that this advert from John Lewis does everything to advocate that it is acceptable to keep a dog in a kennel outside in the snow.
I hope our animal welfare charities have responded! I received a bog-standard response to my e-mail complaint, which included the comment that 'there were lights in the kennel'.
Are these marketing employees at John Lewis living in the real world? I will never shop there again, and have told them.
Some people will complain
Some people will complain about anything. Dog lovers who let there animals foul the pavement that my kids walk along disgust me to. Perhaps I should write to the government and get dogs as pet banned.
Up to a point I support what
Up to a point I support what is being said re this ad, but do be careful how much you spin this out - personally I can't see anything misleading about John Lewis saying "This weekend we will be launching shorter versions of our advert which have a different ending." and "As I said, it was always our plan to introduce shorter versions at this time and indeed there may be other versions which we run later on in the campaign." They did not say they were shooting special ads to replace this one, shorter versions of their ads have always followed days after the launch of the full advert, nothing new about that and nothing misleading.
It is easy to misinterpret something when trying to get a point across and I think you need to cut some of the peripheral stuff and stick to just the fact that some people hate dogs and do mistreat them, that's the main focus of your (and others) worries. Sidetracking diffuses the main thrust.
So many people are adding stuff to what is said and fancifying it all - just watched the ad and the dog is actually mostly outside the kennel, no sign of a chain, nothing to show there is no bed for the dog all of which people keep posting on facebook. Unfortunately a lot of personal attacks are going on now in the comments being made on the JL Facebook site which is a pity as that too diffuses the focus on the main subject.
And as a dog lover my heartfelt thanks to you for what you personally are doing for dogs, thank heavens the dog lovers outweigh those who abuse.
Thanks for your comment. I
Thanks for your comment. I thought long and hard before I posted this. I only posted this because the BBC were saying that John Lewis have agreed to change the ad when they absolutely haven't. The trouble was that John Lewis have not been telling the BBC & other media outlets what they told me, and this was misleading. It was the truth, but not the whole truth. As you will probably know we have featured lots of content about problems in the dog world - as well as celebrating what is good. I aim to keep DogCast mostly upbeat! I started the Facebook page as a focus for all the strong feeling and it grew in a way I did not anticipate, and I've tried to keep pace.
Take care
Julie xx
I know they are not playing
I know they are not playing fair as I have just seen the full version again this evening on Universal (Sky). Unbelievable....
Erm, they said the full ad
Erm, they said the full ad would still show - so why are you surprised that they are??
I am not surprised because
I am not surprised because they had told me the truth - meanwhile the BBC and national newspapers where being told something else.
I can't find the FB campaign
I can't find the FB campaign page this morning. What's happened to it??
I cannot help but be
I cannot help but be slightly amused by this whole campaign.
Most people would not have even particularly noticed the dog in a kennel or even probably the advert if there had not been all this hysteria.
At least the dog is not dressed up, forced to stand on a table and tap a board with a stick........ such treatment is seriously misleading and misrepresenting how meercats should be kept!!!!!!!!!!!! Sometimes you need to take these things a little tongue in cheek.
Some dogs live in kennels and it is perfectly legal and many dogs are content with their lot that way.
Do you really think people are going to base their choice of accomodation on a TV add for a department store? People are not morons and a dog kept by someone that influenced probably has a whole lot more to worry about than a kennel.
All that aside but IF the message this ad is sending ot is that it is okay to kennel your dog otside in the cold and snow congratulations for helping increase the number of people it has reached ten fold.
This is just one aspect of
This is just one aspect of what we do at DogCast - it's just that this has caught the media attention. We have at least got people thnking about how dogs should live.
You call it "hysteria" - I merely made the page, and people came to it - there was no media attention until they were already there. The ad provoked strong feeling.
You can't have it both ways - you say people aren't "morons" yet the mere existence of a Facebook page made them "hysterical".
Take care,
Julie