Chicken nuggets are safer than petting a Pit Bull? McDonalds Pulls Offensive Ad

By Bri Luginbill at HelloLife
From the The Kibble Blog Series

Hello fellow dog lovers and welcome to The Kibble. This week we explore a controversial issue - the latest Mcdonald's radio ad. It seems to play on a negative stereotype that pit bulls are not safe dogs.

Their radio advertisement was just like any other, trying to provoke a humorous response. However, they made a bad joke that had many animal lovers offended. It opened with the announcer posing the question “What’s safer?” He then went on to say that eating Mcdonald's chicken nuggets is safer than petting a pit bull. Besides that being unsafe other things were deemed a bad idea too, such as giving your friends your Facebook password, shaving your head, and naming your son Sue.

Needless to say, this radio ad had pit bull owners upset all over the country. In Kansas City, the advertisement only lasted a few days before it was taken down due to offended listeners.

Mcdonald's Radio Ad

Rachele Lizarraga, coordinator of Chako Pit Bull Rescue did not appreciate the ad one bit,

“I found it extremely offensive and reckless. Why would you try to promote the safety of food?”

She made a Facebook page titled “Pit Bulls Against Mcdonald’s” and her page got over 8,200 likes.

Another animal lover, Laura Goldman, senior social media writer for ilovedogs.com, was also upset about the ad,

“It made me really angry. It seemed like a stupid advertising campaign, insinuating eating their food is risky. I would rather pet a million stray pit bulls than eat one pink slimy Chicken McBite.”

Video Response to the Ad
Hey Mcdonald’s I’m Luvin Pit

Mcdonald's reacted fast by pulling the radio ad after only a few days and making a public apology.

“The ad was insensitive in its mention of pit bulls," said spokesperson, Ashlee Yingling, "We apologize. As soon as we learned of it, we tracked the source and had the local markets pull the ad immediately. It’s never our intent to offend anyone with how we communicate news about Mcdonald’s.”

However, Rachele and many of her supporters did not think an apology was enough. They believe Mcdonald's should make an effort to promote the pit bull's image in a positive light.

What do YOU think? Was portraying pit bulls in a negative light unfair?
Is an apology enough?

For other Mcdonald's controversies check out the FitChatter blog series about pink slime in their burgers.

Photo Credit: Daily Mail UK
Sources: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/dog-owners-complain-mcdonalds-pulls-ad-comparing-eating-a-chicken-mcbite-to-petting-pit-bull/2012/02/06/gIQAJdY8uQ_story.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2097631/McDonalds-apologises-dog-owners-insensitive-ad-claims-eating-McBite-risky-petting-stray-pit-bull.html

The Kibble Series
A blog series by Bri Luginbill at HelloLife.Next:Cropping of Dogs' Ears Banned Previously:2012 Superbowl Ads to Feature More Dogs!

5 Comments

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sprouty
What's with people giving pit bulls a hard time?! Seriously, have these people ever met a pit bull, or are they just negative because of over-hyped news or STUPID local laws that are based on over-hyped news? I spent several years working at several vet's offices and it was NEVER the pits who were the problem.
Commented on HelloLife February 07 at 3:52 pm
Bri Luginbill at HelloLife
I don't get it either! Pit bulls are nice dogs. I worked with a family that had a pit bull and that was the calmest tempered dog I'd ever seen. Petting that dog was actually a great calming technique for their girl who had autism and it never once struck out at her or anyone.
Commented on HelloLife February 07 at 4:07 pm
Big Dave
But spiced up corn syrup masquerading as BBQ sauce doesn't taste good on pit bulls! (From what I hear anyway. I've never eaten a pit bull.)
Commented on HelloLife February 08 at 8:11 am
Laura Hogg
That's an incredibly stupid ad campaign to begin with. If they have to go THAT far out of their way to let the public know that their food is safe - not tasty, not nutritious, but just SAFE (the absolute bare minimum requirement for a food) - that wouldn't make me want to eat it. I'd say that this backfired pretty hard. I don't eat meat, but even if I did, I would way rather cuddle with a pitbull than eat chicken nuggets!
Commented on HelloLife February 08 at 9:51 am
John at HelloLife
http://www.ywgrossman.com/photoblog/?p=676

Pitbulls are pretty much the best family dog you could possibly want. It's a shame that a tiny portion of them are trained to be aggressive and that the media perpetuates a myth about such a wonderful breed.
Commented on HelloLife February 08 at 12:22 pm