Super Bowl Doritos Commercial

by Elisa Black-Taylor
(USA)

Super Bowl Doritos Dead Cat Bribe

Until September 7th I will give 10 cents to an animal charity for every comment. It is a way to help animal welfare without much effort at no cost. Comments help this website too, which is about animal welfare.

Super Bowl Doritos Dead Cat Bribe

One thing that may be considered more famous than the Super Bowl in the U.S. is the Super Bowl commercials. For many, the commercials are more important than the game itself and boast the best commercials you'll see on TV all year. People look forward to these commercials and they make for a lot of water cooler talk the week following the big game

This year the Doritos commercial featuring a dog burying a cat has drawn a lot of negative attention. The official title of this commercial is "Super Bowl Doritos Dead Cat Bribe" or "Man's Best Friend."

Here's the commercial.

Word has it, this commercial only cost $20 to make. Yet it has created a stir as many outraged cat lovers protest the message the "Man's Best Friend" commercial appears to portray. Basically, a human (and husband of the cat's owner) is bribed by a dog to keep the death and burial of their cat a secret.

This commercial implies the dog killed the cat and buried the cat to hide the evidence. The cat owner's husband is bribed by a bag (or two) of Doritos to keep the cat murder private.

To make matters worse, at the end of the commercial, the wife asks the husband if he's seen the cat and he says "nope" after he sees the dog outside his door holding up another bag of Doritos.

Many see the "Man's Best Friend" Doritos commercial as harmless fun. The dog is in control of the situation throughout the commercial.

Others see the commercial as everything from cruel to downright abusive. The commercial says the life of this cat was worth less than a bag of Doritos. It also sets a bad example as the husband doesn't appear to consider telling his wife their cat is dead.

There are even some viewers (consumers) who are threatening to boycott Frito-Lay, owner of the Doritos brand, because of the commercial. Frito-Lay is in the convenience food division of PepsiCo, owners of Pepsi.

So what do the readers at pictures-of-cats.org think of this Super Bowl Doritos Dead Cat Bribe commercial? Is this all done in fun or is it just on more way cats are shown as less worthy in this country?

I don't find any commercial that implies a cat was murdered as entertaining. I will say this. If I were the wife asking my husband if he'd seen my missing cat, he'd better tell me the truth in the matter.

Every year there's always one Super Bowl commercial that really gets under our skin as being just wrong in the message it sends. In my opinion,"Man's Best Friend" for Doritos is that commercial for this year.

Elisa

Note: The photos used in this article are stills from the YouTube video by FunnySBCommercials. The first shot is of the dog making sure the cat tags are buried. The second shows the neighborhood poster of the missing cat.

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Super Bowl Doritos Commercial

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Mar 09, 2012
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Glad you all agree
by: Leo_Otaku

Glad I was not the only one! This is disgusting for any animal to be killed for a bag f 2 dollars chips!


Feb 29, 2012
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Doritos ad & Frito-Lay
by: Susan

I am completely disgusted by the Doritos dog &cat ad...and did write to the company and did receive the same form letter as Patricia...Guess what Frito-Lay..."apology" NOT ACCEPTED !!!! NO you will NOT win back my trust...I will NOT buy your products !!! Personally, I am weary of people's lack of compassion and simple kindness. When the killing of someone's loved pet becomes a joke, it must be time to take a good long look at who we've become. Shame on you FRITO-LAY.


Feb 23, 2012
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What humor is there in killing a pet?
by: Annette WakefieldAnonymous

I find it so very sad that Pepsi/Frito Lay accepted this add. into it's competition. Tina, Frito Lays rep. told me it won because it was voted as being the most popular add. submitted into their contest for viewing during the Super Bowl.

If a commercial depicted several cats pushing dirt over "Fido's" collar would it still be so funny? Who are these people who think it's alright,and see humor in having a dog kill a neighbors cat? Who were these voters?

I'm boycotting all Pepsi/Frito lay products and asking support from all my FB friends. I can't do much to stop the airing of the commercial, but I believe I can ask anyone who agrees this commercial offensive to pass on my request.

I believe You at Pepsi and Frito Lay just plain blew it with your lack discretion.


Feb 17, 2012
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Petition web site
by: Anonymous

As soon as I saw that ugly commercial I searched the web and found your site.

Often I see commercials suggesting it's OK somehow to hurt cats.

This commercial isn't even coy about it.

I know there is a website that starts petitions.

I do not know how many visitors you get, but maybe you could get a petition going.

Or maybe a change letter could be started.

What about writing to the government? Federal Trade Commission?

For some reason in our world today, it's ok to hate cats and use the b word for women .... but so many other groups have us all shaking in our boots to be politically correct.

Thanks for your site and I'll check back to see if we can get that commercial off the air.

YOU KNOW THAT SENDS THE MESSAGE TO YOUNG BOYS (OR GIRLS) THAT KILLING CATS IS FUNNY.

Cat hating is already endorsed by many people.


Feb 17, 2012
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Petition web site
by: Anonymous

As soon as I saw that ugly commercial I searched the web and found your site.

Often I see commercials suggesting it's OK somehow to hurt cats.

This commercial isn't even coy about it.

I know there is a website that starts petitions.

I do not know how many visitors you get, but maybe you could get a petition going.

Or maybe a change letter could be started.

What about writing to the government? Federal Trade Commission?

For some reason in our world today, it's ok to hate cats and use the b word for women .... but so many other groups have us all shaking in our boots to be politically correct.

Thanks for your site and I'll check back to see if we can get that commercial off the air.

YOU KNOW THAT SENDS THE MESSAGE TO YOUNG BOYS (OR GIRLS) THAT KILLING CATS IS FUNNY.

Cat hating is already endorsed by many people.


Feb 17, 2012
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Note
by: Elisa

Just a note to let everyone know I'd have been just as upset if a cat were burying a dog and offering chips as hush money


Feb 17, 2012
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Reply from Frito-Lay about ad
by: Patricia

This is the reply from Frito-Lay to my complaints:

Hi Patricia,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. Consumer opinions are very important to us and we appreciate knowing how you feel.

The ad was consumer created through our 'Crash the Super Bowl' campaign. Consumers submitted ads that were then selected by a public vote. Please know your comments will be shared with the appropriate teams here at Frito-Lay. We apologize, as we would never intentionally offend our consumers.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and the constructive spirit in which they were offered. We hope our future actions will restore your confidence in our name and will earn back your trust and support.

Best regards,

Tina
Frito-Lay Consumer Relations
011856528A


Feb 17, 2012
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Reply from Frito-Lay
by: Patricia

This is the email I received from Frito-Lay commenting on my complaint about this disgusting ad:

Hi Patricia,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. Consumer opinions are very important to us and we appreciate knowing how you feel.

The ad was consumer created through our 'Crash the Super Bowl' campaign. Consumers submitted ads that were then selected by a public vote. Please know your comments will be shared with the appropriate teams here at Frito-Lay. We apologize, as we would never intentionally offend our consumers.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and the constructive spirit in which they were offered. We hope our future actions will restore your confidence in our name and will earn back your trust and support.

Best regards,

Tina
Frito-Lay Consumer Relations
011856528A


Feb 17, 2012
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Sign The Petition & Boycott Frito Lay and PepsiCo
by: Nohl

Patricia people are taking a stand and there's a petition to have the commercial removed from the airwaves. You can find it at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/doritos-commercial-is-offensive-to-cats-cat-lovers/

Please sign and foward that link to others. It's amazing how many people found that commercial funny which is truly disturbing. Killing a cat is never humorous and animal cruelty is a serious issue. I have to wonder if these same people that found the commercial humorous would still be brushing it off as no big deal if it was a human child being buried and someone was being bribed with a bag of chips to look the other way?

Nonetheless, the ad clearly advocates that killing the cats and abusing an animal is ok. Another stereotype it portrays is that all dogs kill cats which isn't true.

I'm boycotting Frito Lay and PepsiCo and so are others over that commercial.


Feb 16, 2012
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Doritos Ad
by: Patricia

This ad is disgusting. I wrote to Frito-Lay complaining about it. More people need to write them and demand it's removal. On my Face Book page, I've asked people to write to them and demand this ad be removed and an apology be issued. The people that came up with this cruel ad should be fired.


Feb 14, 2012
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Stupid
by: John

Doritos is incredibly stupid for airing this ad. Cat owners outnumber dog owners. Why this product would chance angering millions is beyond me. I think I"ll stick with pretzels.


Feb 09, 2012
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@ Maggie
by: Elisa

My cats use my boxer Dreyfuss as a giant throw pillow. I have a lot of pics of them all sleeping with him on my Facebook wall. The main thing to remember about big dogs and cats is to not feed them in the same area. My dogs get into disagreements at times and you'd think they were killing each other but its a lot of barking and nothing else.

My cats even sleep curled up between the dogs in my bed at night. I have a very unusual animal family.

My cat Mandy loves Dreyfuss so much she'll stand up under him and raise up to give him a chin rub with the top of her head. He's very sick and we won't have him much longer. I thought I was going to have to have him pts last week but the vet added another med and Dreyfuss is feeling better for now.


Feb 09, 2012
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Very Disturbing
by: Maggie

I can understand why people would see the ad as 'harmless fun', but my first impression was that it's a very sick and disturbing ad. Not only has the cat been killed, and the owner couldn't care less, but it's implied that dogs kill cats. I have 3 dogs, sometimes 4 when another comes to visit. Two small dogs, and one large dog. (The visiting dog is large, too.) And not once have I felt that my two cats have ever been in danger around my dogs, because I know that the dogs would never have a conscious desire to kill the cat, like this ad suggests. Eliza has dogs too, if I'm correct. And I'm sure her many foster cats aren't in danger of being killed. The whole 'cat versus dog' thing needs to end.

And as Eliza said, it suggests that a cat's life is worth less than a bag of chips. That on its own is just offensive, and could potentially encourage people to treat cats wrongly. Advertising is powerful, this ad says it's okay to kill cats!

In my house, Man's Best Friend sits happily on his cat tree watching the birds, and also sits on the floor, chewing his nylon bone. Each with no intent to kill the other.


Feb 09, 2012
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Fantasy vs reality
by: Elisa

Maybe I have a hard time separating fantasy from reality, but I think of that poor woman going out and calling her cat every day. Not knowing its dead and hoping it will come home. And the whole time her husband knows the cat is dead, even though he didn't kill it, he's being deceitful in the worst way.


Feb 09, 2012
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That Doritos Commercial Was Clearly Anti-Cat
by: Anonymous

As a cat lover I was horrified that they would advocate that killing a cat was ok. The commercial was extremely anti-cat and sends a message that animal cruelty is perfectly acceptable when in fact it's wrong and shouldn't be condoned.

The worst thing about this is, this was a consumer produced commercial and voted as the favorite in a national contest. The winner was given $1 million for it. Frito Lay and PepsiCo should've disqualified it but instead chose to run it. That's sad and despicable! I will no longer be buying any Frito Lay or PepsiCo product as a result.

Yes, there is now a boycott against Frito Lay and PepsiCo now happening. You can find a petition to get the commercial off the air at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/doritos-commercial-is-offensive-to-cats-cat-lovers

The boycott was started by Cat Galaxy which is an internet radio and TV station for cats. At least one large voice for cats was willing to take a stand.


Feb 09, 2012
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5 Stars!
by: Fran Fontana

Here! Here! .... Ruth
I was at the market last night and looked right at the Doritos on sale .... and could NOT even come close to the rack without thinking of that commercial.


Feb 09, 2012
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Horrible
by: Ruth

It's a horrible advert and I've seen a lot of Americans on facebook complaining about it and boycotting the firm.
Good for them !
Too many people there have no respect for cats already without rubbish like that making it worse.

Kattaddorra signature Ruth


Feb 09, 2012
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Doritos Commercial
by: Fran Fontana

Hi Michael:
I understood it as the dog was giving the human Doritos as hush money for killing/burying the cat.
I did NOT like the commercial


Feb 09, 2012
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My two penny's worth
by: Michael

I don't understand the commercial! LOL. I understand the dog has buried the cat but that's about it!

I am becoming more politically correct on certain matters.

Silly things like the way we say that black cats bring back luck and even the word "moggies" might do the random bred cat a disservice. These little things gradually add up and enter the consciousness of the people, which charges their perception of the cat.

So even this ad, which is pretty innocuous (it could be said) it is wrong. But I as I can't understand it that makes is less wrong for me....!


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