Finally an honest ad campagin by an SPCA, and now the CBC won't run it!]

[Guest guest]

From The Halifax Chronicle Herald May 14, 2004

 

CBC pulls SPCA ads over 'shock value'

 

By MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE / Staff Reporter

 

A new advertising campaign for the Nova Scotia SPCA that equates children with

family pets doesn't sit well with CBC brass in Toronto, the Halifax firm that

created the public service announcements learned this week.

 

To the ad agency, Porkpie Hat Advertising, the TV spots, billboard ads and bus

shelter posters are " thought-provoking " and " attention-grabbing. "

 

But CBC management says the " shock value " in them violates the public

broadcaster's policy on advertising standards.

 

It recently e-mailed Porkpie Hat a note saying management rejected the SPCA

commercials, though other networks have agreed to use them.

 

" In equating pets with children, the message expresses a point of view that

some people would find very disturbing, " the CBC's e-mail says. It says ads

accepted by the CBC must meet the network's policy on standards of taste, and

not " demand audience attention through use of shock value. "

 

The contentious campaign, scheduled to begin this week, puts forlorn-looking

kids in the place of animals - one small child is behind a chain-link fence,

another is peering around a door - posing questions that pets obviously can't.

 

Porkpie Hat officials say it was developed to promote responsible pet adoption

- and to help prevent pets obtained on impulse, or through other bad decisions,

from ending up at local animal shelters.

 

One transit shelter ad features a girl asking, " I cry at night. Will you have

me put down? "

 

A billboard portrays a little boy saying, " My parents are allergic to me. Can

I come live with you? "

 

CBC spokeswoman Ruth Ellen Soles said Thursday the public service

announcements are unsuitable for children.

 

She said the network isn't anti-pet or anti-SPCA, but CBC officials believe

this particular campaign is inappropriate.

 

" What these ads are doing is equating the behaviour of children and the

behaviour of pets, and the treatment of children and the treatment of pets, " Ms.

Soles said by phone from Toronto.

 

" There's definitely shock value in this. "

 

The kids used in the ads are between ages five and 12 and are from the Halifax

area.

 

Ms. Soles said the CBC never agreed to run the campaign's 30- and 60-second

spots. A spokesman with the ad agency said a CBC sales manager in January

offered free air time but made no promises.

 

" We're not saying, 'We changed our mind and we're not giving you air time,' "

Ms. Soles said. " We're saying, 'We're still giving you air time but not for that

ad, because this is not something that we would put on our airwaves.' "

 

Judith Gass, the SPCA's provincial president, couldn't be reached.

 

According to Porkpie Hat, the focus of the ad campaign, created for the SPCA

free of charge, is this: " If only we treated our pets with the same basic

consideration we give our children. "

 

Porkpie Hat spokesman Michael Scher said the SPCA material wasn't meant to be

controversial or shocking.

 

" I've turned on Hockey Night in Canada and watched the new (beer ad) campaign

and seen the full-frontal crotch shot of the dancing woman in the bikini, " he

said. " To me, that's a little more shocking. "

 

Mr. Scher said this is the first time his firm has provided advertising for

the Nova Scotia SPCA. He said one of CBC's competitors, CTV, is quite happy with

the message and images that were created. The ads are also to be on Global.

 

" There's a lot of examples of shocking advertising out there - I don't think

that this is one of them, " Mr. Scher said.