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Skechers In Doghouse For Super Bowl Ad
- by Sarah Mahoney @mahoney_sarah, January 11, 2012
While the Big Game is still a few weeks away, it looks like Skechers has already stepped in something with its 30-second spot. The sneaker company is in the doghouse with animal-rights activists, who say its ad promotes greyhound racing. So far, more than 47,000 consumers have signed a change.org-organized petition, urging the sneaker company to jettison the spot, filmed at a Tucson greyhound racetrack.
The group, called GREY2K USA, started a ‘Boycott Skechers’ Web site about a month ago, and says it is planning a protest at the Skechers store in Tucson later this month. The ad, which Skechers says is scheduled to run in the two-minute warning period before the first half of the game, features a sassy French Bulldog named Mr. Quiggly, and also stars Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks. While Cuban is best known for his role in sports, he has also appeared on ABC's "Dancing With The Stars," HBO's "Entourage" and ABC's "Shark Tank."
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But while the pooch -- positioned as the underdog of shoes in the sports performance arena --may have all the personality of Spuds MacKenzie, the animal rights group says the ad promotes greyhound dog racing, which it says is now banned in 38 states.
“Skechers should not be partnering with Tucson Greyhound Park, which has an extensive record of cruelty,” says GREY2K USA president Christine Dorchak in the group’s statement. “Tucson Greyhound Park is perhaps the most infamous dog track in the country, and multiple cases of neglect occurred only weeks prior to the shoot. We are hopeful that the company will hear our concerns, realize its mistake, and withdraw this misguided promotion of dog racing.”
Skechers did not respond to queries about whether it would yank the ad.
The spot promotes the Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based company’s new GORun shoe, “a radically lightweight, minimal running shoe that features mid-foot strike technology and GOimpulse sensors for enhanced sensory feedback.” It marks the brand’s first foray into the $13 billion global running shoe business, dominated by Nike and Adidas.
I lost my adopted greyhound, Okiedokers, to a rare blood disease last October, and at nine years old - five years removed from her racing days (she ran 201 races in her career, more than double the average) - she was just finally beginning to relax.
The entire time I had her she would not eat with her back to anyone. When she would lie next to me on the couch, she would constantly look upward - the result of living for so many years in a cage with another dog caged right above her.
When I took her to the dog park, she stayed off by herself. She just never learned how to play with other dogs. She was trained to compete against them, not play with them.
Her teeth were damaged from the tight racing muzzle she was forced to wear, and her body bore the scars of scores of fights with other dogs. She didn't even know how to negotiate a flight of stairs when I first adopted her.
But despite an early life marked by exploitation and abuse at human hands, she was the most gentle, forgiving creature I've ever had the pleasure of sharing my home with. I miss her smiling face more than words can say, and if I had it my way, I'd round up all the people who profit by these animals and lock them up one on top of the other.
I further suggest the folks at Sketchers take the $3.5MM cost of their single Super Bowl ad and donate that money instead to GREY2K USA. In fact, how about a campaign that turns lemons into lemonade by showing folks donning their Sketchers as they run alongside their adopted greyhounds: "Now I can finally keep up with my new best friend!"
Fantastic idea, Mike! Skechers probably didn't think about what their ad would associate them with before they decided to go this route.
At TGP, greyhounds are kept confined in small cages which are barely large enough for them to stand up or turn around. They are fed raw 4-D meat, the meat of downed, diseased, disabled or dead livestock. This was documented in a recent video investigation: http://www.grey2kusa.org/azVideo.html.
While racing, greyhounds face the risk of serious injury. According to state records, between January 2007 and November 2009, nearly 1,000 greyhound injuries were reported at Arizona racetracks. The most common injury was a broken leg, and other reported injuries included fractures, sprains, dislocations, muscle tears and strains, lacerations, a cracked skull, broken backs, heat stroke, puncture wounds and paralysis. To learn more, please see the full report (http://grey2kusa.org/pdf/AZ2011.pdf) and video (http://grey2kusa.org/azInjuries.html).
Skechers still has time to fix this. Don't run an ad that implicitly supports greyhound racing.
It is unconscionable that Skechers would shoot an ad at this notorious dog track where hundreds of dogs live lives of confinement and die on the track.
At Tucson Greyhound Park, greyhounds are kept confined in small cages which are barely large enough for them to stand up or turn around. They are fed raw 4-D meat, the meat of downed, diseased, disabled or dead livestock. This was documented in a recent video investigatio by GREY2KUSA.
While racing, greyhounds face the risk of serious injury. According to state records, between January 2007 and November 2009, nearly 1,000 greyhound injuries were reported at Arizona racetracks. The most common injury was a broken leg, and other reported injuries included fractures, sprains, dislocations, muscle tears and strains, lacerations, a cracked skull, broken backs, heat stroke, puncture wounds and paralysis. To learn more, please see our full report and video."
Val Wolf Board Member GREY2KUSA
Mike, thank you so much for sharing the story about your beloved Okiedokers and the wonderful campain idea! My heart hurts reading every single day about the abuse,neglect,and torture so many precious animals must endure from so called "humans".I only hope I'll get to see in my lifetime the end of all animal cruelty, only NO-KILL shelters,and treating all animals wth love,respect and dignity they deserve. Being the owner of four rescued dogs I know they are the most loving,loyal friends you can wish for!!!!
Mike, I hope you won't mind if I share your brilliant comment on my FB. Thank you. RIP sweet darling Okiedokers!
Greyt idea, Mike. What a positive message Sketchers could have showing their shoe with a person who adopts a greyhound. Instead, they and NBC choose to promote all the horrors of racing these wonderful, gentle companions. (So sorry for your loss, been there and will do it again, and again...)
Kudos to Sarah Mahoney for getting us into the media. Margaret, FSGR, Reading, PA