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| Yes | 91% | 53 votes | Total: 58 votes | |
| No | 9% | 5 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesYes, indeed a company should help the welfare of animals, particularly if a company is exploiting animals through an advertising campaign. Actually, utilizing animals in advertising is a great way for companies to get their message out, because consumers respond to animals. Many people relate emotionally to animals, because they may be familiar with a particular type of creature. Dogs, cats, monkeys, and even reptiles represent family to many people in the world today.
We have all had our hearts tugged when a kitty or pooch shows up on the television and even in the movie theatre. Many types of shows utilize stage animals for huge profits. Why not give back to those innocents who cannot represent themselves? Many animals have difficult situations in which they are merely surviving. The very few celebrity animals out there are the exception to the rule. It is far more common for our furry (and non furry) friends to suffer abuse and neglect at the hands of cruel and abusive owners and handlers.
If a company wants to utilize an animal in its ad campaign, it could get additional publicity through supporting a welfare effort. Joining a board or donating an advertisement could help build trust and show goodwill which would provide more viewer-ship down the road. Having your company brand associated with the goals of a animal welfare affiliation could boost company profits."Birds of a feather flock together" is an old saying which means people will associate with like-minded people. Companies may capitalize on this through being animal friendly and showing their care and concern for creatures well being.
For a company not to support animal welfare and who exploit animals, this may be detrimental to a company's perceived public image, as well as, a lost opportunity to reach more people. If a company has a logo in which an animal is featured, yet does not promote the well-being of that genre of species, maybe it should not use that image in their marketing campaign. Associations which are exploitative are not respected and should be discouraged.
Smokey the Bear is an example of sending a message which helps society, as well as, promotes bears having a safe habitat and environment. That bear has become an icon for which millions of American people respond. Corporate America should reciprocate with animals it uses to promote their products and could realize bonus profits through promoting animal welfare. Promoting animal welfare seems like an excellent way to give back to those creatures that are helping to make millions of dollars for the company they represent. Many corporations already recognize this intangible benefit and capitalize on it..
Learn more about this author, Janine Culotta.
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No
Using animals in an ad campaign does not alone mean a company would be required to support animal warfare efforts. At the very least, this could often lead to hypocritical situations, and lead further into areas where it's downright patronizing to the customers. If McDonald's started an ad campaign with Grimace petting a cow the last thing I would want to hear is how McDonald's is doing it's work to prevent issues with animals.
There are other motivations for a company to support animal welfare efforts, but having the animal in their commercial is not it. I want to know that McDonald's beef farms are a humane environment for the animals to live (and die) but I absolutely do not want it to be used against me when I'm going in to buy a hamburger. In fact, these preachy ideals should have nothing whatsoever to do with my purchasing decision. I want to make my decision based on the quality and value of the product.
This example may seem crude, but you can apply it to situations other than just food: The Geico Gecko? I don't think the exhaust from the cars he's helping insure is doing much to help the gecko population. The company may want to do something about that, but doing it because their mascot is a gecko does not sit right with me. It even applies to cell phones such as Fido. The production of cell phones does enough harm to the environment that the animal welfare efforts would be patronizing to the consumer at best.
I'm not saying that these companies shouldn't be accountable for their actions, but I am saying that whether or not they use an animal in their ad campaigns has no bearing whatsoever on the social conscience of a company. Any attempts to maintain the enviroment of a company's mascot would just be yet another marketing tool designed to make you feel more trusting of the company in question.
I do, however, propose a new organization. The Animal Actor's Guild. A group consisting of performing animals from all walks of life. I want the dogs from the TV, the elephants from the circus, and even the crocodiles at the zoo to join forces. They should have a union where a portion of the money paid to the "performer" is put towards maintaining the quality of life for the animals in lesser quality venues. Perhaps we should pay less attention to the company's hiring the animals, and take a closer look at the trainer involved in caring for the animal - and profiting from it as well.
Maybe we should allow the animals themselves to profit from their work, instead of using them as slaves.
Learn more about this author, Mopes.
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