Vitamin Water and Sheep.

I don't know if any of you have seen that commercial for Vitamin Water where that basketball player takes a sheep and heaves it around, ultimately tossing it yards away, where the sheep ends up bouncing on the grass and standing up wearily to stagger around, bleating.



That commercial makes me sick.

As I've seen on several blogs this week, think of the average IQ. Then remember that half of all peoples' IQs are lower than that.

Then watch that commercial again.

Can't you just see some kid drinking some vitamin water and then trying to launch the family dog across the yard? I can.

Especially in light of stories like this. 3 guys kicked a small dog. One of them drop-kicked it down the street. Shit like this DOES happen.

You take a person with no respect for life, add a small capacity for rational thought (which, to me, goes hand-in-hand with the lack of respect), and show them a commercial like that, do you think they're going to read the fine print that says, "dramatization"? Do you think they're going to give a shit? No, they're not.

If a 23-year-old is capable of drop-kicking a dog for no good reason, some kid is more than capable of throwing an animal around if he thinks some drink is going to make him stronger.

Call me dramatic, but this is the kind of shit that fucking pisses me off to no end. People don't THINK for themselves any more.


So I sent an email to the company. Told them as such. Included the link to the article and expressed my concerns that those less-intelligent members of society would be inclined to try this stunt at home, regardless of warnings.

This is the unedited version (with some omissions, of course) of the email I received back from them:

hello Bonnie,

thank for taking the time to contact us.

we appreciate your feedback and want to let you know that
absolutely no sheep were harmed or mistreated during the filming
of the commercial. to ensure sheep safety, a representative
from the american humane society was present throughout the
entire process. we also added the words “dramatization” or
“fictionalization” as well as “no sheep were harmed” to the
commercials to make viewers aware that this was in fact not an
actual sheep toss.

the television commercial is intended to convey the benefits
vitaminwater® provides in a lighthearted and humorous way.

we certainly appreciate your feedback and have forwarded your
concerns to our marketing team for consideration in future
advertising decisions.

sincerely,

jamie
consumer relations manager
glacéau
www.glaceau.com


Unedited, people. If you can't be bothered to hit the SHIFT key, how the hell am I supposed to believe that you give a shit? I think they're trying to be "lighthearted" and "down with the kids", but for FUCK'S SAKE, you're a CRM! TRY to look intelligent!

I'm also aware of the methods used for filming animal-related things is stringent, so I'm not concerned about the welfare of the sheep in the commercial. I'm just too aware of how stupid people can be - I live in Memphis, after all. You want to see stupid, just go to Wal-Mart and stand in any aisle for 3 minutes.

If I saw a story on the news soon of someone tossing an animal around, I would shake my head, get pissed off...and not be a bit surprised.


I appreciate her writing me back, but I don't appreciate the insinuation that I'm of less-than-average intelligence that comes from her typing and the content.


And I still fucking hate that commercial.