Killing a dog with a Nitro wasn't such a good idea after all
When an ad agency supporting Chrysler's Netherlands Market Performance Center created a viral ad for the Dodge Nitro that depicted a dog being electrocuted by the vehicle, they were so smitten with their work that they decided to put it on YouTube. The timing of the spot couldn't be any worse here in the US, where dog cruelty is making front page news. Chrysler execs in Auburn Hills, MI were quick to pull the ad from YouTube and go into damage control, as Chrysler spokesman Jason Vines called the spot "far beyond the bounds of what the company considers appropriate". Vines also pointed out that viral marketing in Europe is a little more over the top than it is here in the States, and anybody that has seen some of the old Ford KA internet spots knows that sort of insensitivity wouldn't float here. What surprises us is that any multinational automaker can air advertising without at least one high-ranking executive looking at it first.
[Source: Auto News (subscription req'd)]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
David Wiles 2:17PM (7/20/2007)
I'd say this is the ad world equivalent of a quarterback, like, oh... I don't know... say... MICHAEL VICK! throwing an interception in the end zone on first and goal. Sometimes the newscycle just kicks your butt.
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Father Time 2:27PM (7/20/2007)
I would say this ad was made by an ignorant asshole that could not live next door to me, his hiney could not withstand the daily kickings it would endure...... I would also ad that if this is any indication of how Chrysler pays to company business details, they are in deep doo doo.
Zain 2:25PM (7/20/2007)
For those who missed out earlier, here's another link on YT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjWcwUXnZcE
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Drewboy 3:01PM (7/20/2007)
Too late!
Michael La Framboise 2:32PM (7/20/2007)
heh, most of Dodge's ads are pathetic anyways, rather the whole marketing campaign is retarded- instead of making cars which are reliable and look good, they're just trying to go for the "If you have a small penis, dodge is the car for you; its anything but cute and as everyone knows, ugly things make your penis look bigger"
:)
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georgejetson 2:41PM (7/20/2007)
There isn't much else you can do when the best people on your design staff leave after the Germans buy your company and those left behind seem incapable of drawing anything but blunt-nosed bulldogs. Hopefully new ownership will be able to rebuild the design team into something resembling the one Chrysler had during the '90s.
Barney 6:30PM (7/20/2007)
" people on your design staff leave after the Germans buy your company and those left behind seem incapable of drawing anything"
Get off the pot. A good looking Chrysler and the best design team? You sure have a warped sense of what looks nice as an automobile.
icu812ru469 2:37PM (7/20/2007)
American are such pussies... dogs and cats ohhhhhh poor dogs and cats. Unless you're a vegan, stop bitching about animal cruelty because that burger you're eating, isn't a vegetable, that chicken breast didn't grow on a tree, and ribs, they're not fruits. Other countries don't give half a dog's ass about dogs or cats and they eat them, so to them, they're nothing but meat. There are more important things that worrying about dogs and cats in this world.
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Michael La Framboise 2:44PM (7/20/2007)
The issue here isnt that Americans are "pussies" but rather that the american auto manufacturers' vehicles and the advertising for them is mostly very pathetic. :)
Mike 2:50PM (7/20/2007)
@icu812ru469: Hey pole smoker, this isn't a PETA issue...it's a "don't wanna create an offending association with a celebrity who electrocutes dogs" issue.
And if you think it's fine to treat dogs like crap then violently kill them seek therapy you f*ckin' sociopath loser...
Barney 6:34PM (7/20/2007)
So in that case, why didn't Chrysler kill a pig or cow instead. They could even have a bucket of blood hit the camera lens. Better yet, there are a lot of people being killed these days, why not have some person touch the car and explode.
Barney 6:36PM (7/20/2007)
"The issue here isnt that Americans are "pussies"
You do realize the ad was in the Netherlands? Are you suggesting that Americans went there and complained?
Austin M 2:47PM (7/20/2007)
icu812ru469,
Not all of us brother, but I understand perfectly where you are coming from. I laughed very hard at this and the old Ford Sport Ka commercials, as well as the one where the dude uses the little white dog to wipe the bird poo off his shiny new car. Sensitivity can lick my...
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Viv 2:58PM (7/20/2007)
I am no Peta crusader but i think Mike Vick said the same thing as well.
robz4 3:04PM (7/20/2007)
I agree with the post of icu812ru469 above 100 % .Don't get me wrong I do like cats and dogs and would never harm them ,but it is hypocritical to raise hell about a shock commercial when there are a lot other things more important in life than that.I bet the
samepeople that complain about it will not do anything to
help another human in distress and will super size their
burguers.
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Austin M 3:14PM (7/20/2007)
Drewboy has it right, this is not REAL!!! This would be an issue if the commercial were of a real pooch being tied to the bumper, set on fire, and dragged along, but it's not. It's a poorly created special effect, nothing more.
Drewboy 3:02PM (7/20/2007)
The difference between Vick and this commercial is that Vick actually hurt or had dogs hurt. This commercial is no big deal, just bad timing.
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Don 3:16PM (7/20/2007)
Bzzzzt!
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Dave 3:44PM (7/20/2007)
I haven't seen the ad.
But I tend to agree with icu812ru469. This should be a nonissue.
Movies and TV depict people being tortured/maimed/killed all the time.
If they remade Hostel, for example, with dogs and cats being tortured, there'd be an uproar.
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ronald.raygun 4:42PM (7/20/2007)
the commercial really makes me want to buy a dodge.
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