Here are Jenni's comment on the Verizon ad. We can hear you now, J. Thanks for a thoughtful and well-written opinion.

I am not affiliated with any animal rights groups. I'm just a consumer and animal lover who is absolutely stunned with Verizon's lack of compassion and outright disregard for animal welfare.

Their latest ad for the LG Dare phone is a disgraceful ad that glamorizes animal abuse and portrays pit bulls as vicious fighting machines that should be cruelly mutilated (cropped ears) and inhumanely chained outside as guard dogs.

Brenda Raney, a spokesperson for Verizon Wireless said that the ads were never intended to offend. "These are fictional ads, designed to be over-the-top, to break through the clutter and get our message across."

In this case, the “fiction” they speak of mimics real life…pit bulls are routinely subject to rampant abuse and are used as weapons to the detriment of the dogs’ well being. Many live horrible torturous lives of abuse, neglect, pain and are forced to fight to a bloody, painful death.

This depiction is NOT fictional, it’s real, it happens every day and it’s abusive and it’s wrong. And, Verizon is using this negative image to “cut through the clutter” and make a profit.
If you recall the more than 60 pit bull dogs rescued from Michael Vick’s dog fighting kennel were tethered with chains to concrete blocks and tire axels – just like in the Verizon Dare commercial. Fiction? I think not. There’s nothing fictional about it.

Verizon is perpetuating an all too real scenario in which this noble animal is abused, trained to be aggressive and is turned into an urban weapon. Worse yet, the company is capitalizing on this negative stereotype and using it to reach a very influential, young customer base – the EXACT demographic that needs to be re-educated that a pit bull is an amazing, loving, and noble animal and should NOT be tethered with chains and used as a weapon... and that it is not an extension of one’s manhood, toughness or street credibility. Marketing and advertising must be done with integrity, intelligence and a great deal of responsibility.

Regardless of whether or not Verizon meant to offend anyone, the fact remains that they have acted irresponsibly and can fix the problem by simply apologizing for being so short sighted and removing the commercial. Perhaps they are “HEARING US NOW” with all the petitions and angry letters from consumers that they are receiving, but arrogance and hubris often times prevents us from truly listening to reason.

Unbelievably, Verizon is refusing to pull the ad.
I'm just hoping that you can let your audience know just what Verizon cares about -- and it's certainly not animal welfare or the concerns of their loyal customers. All they apparently care about is the almight dollar and "cutting through the clutter" at the expense of man's best friend.
Please consider doing a piece on this travesty and helping animal lovers all over the country make Verizon accountable and "HEAR US NOW"!!