The stupidity revealed in this story (below) is staggering. Is no one in the media intelligent enough to wonder why the SPCA is stressing sales of second-hand animals instead of reducing the supply of second-hand animals? Why wasn't Lara Palmer of the ad agency Palmer Jarvis angered by the cold, concrete cell that she says her beloved dog was psychologically disintegrating in, and question why the SPCA hasn't spent money remaking its dirt cheap holding pens - where animals die of disease and despair and are then disposed of when they become unsellable - into true "shelters"?
If AAS won the lottery it would hire lawyers to track the SPCA's dubious prevention of cruelty record and bring cruelty charges of permitting critical distress against it, and we would hire p.r. firms to get out the story that is being ignored by the media. That is the only way to beat the $%*&*'s at their game and force them to serve animals, not themselves.
The SPCA manipulates the media because the media is so easily manipulated. You just have to have the money to afford a slick mouth piece like Lori Chortyk and you own the game. You'll even get well-meaning dimbulbs to do pro bono work worth hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting your product for you.
Get your own mouth piece and suddenly you're a player. That is how this fight will be won.
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SPCA donated animal ads a hit: Vancouver Courier: Sept 10/03
"Donated animal ads a hit
By Sandra Thomas-Staff writer
The tranquil fall scene shows a father and son standing on a beach, tossing a ball back and forth. Suddenly, the dad throws the ball out into the ocean as far as he can.
"Go get it boy," the dad calls out to his son. "Go on."
As the son looks at his dad in disbelief, the words "Some things you can only do with a pet," appear on the screen, followed by the logo for the B.C. SPCA.
The 30-second public-service announcement is one of four developed and produced for free by Canadian advertising firm Palmer Jarvis, which has offices in Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto.
Art director Lara Palmer, who lives in Vancouver, said when the SPCA contacted her about doing some pro bono work, she enthusiastically pitched the idea to her partners, who immediately came on board.
"Last year I read a news article about overcrowding at the SPCA so I had already called and volunteered our time because part of what we do is charity work," she said. "But they were working with another firm at the time. A few months later, they called me back to say that arrangement hadn't worked out and I was happy to work with them."
Palmer said she had another motivation in taking on the ad campaign, which would normally cost more than $650,000. Two years ago, she and her husband adopted Sydney, an Australian cattle dog, from the SPCA and immediately fell in love.
"When my husband first saw her, it looked like she had had all of the life sucked out of her. She was just lying in her pen, but when my husband took her for a walk she came to life," Palmer said. "Two years later, she's a wonder dog and has changed our lives in so many ways."
Besides doing the creative work, the firm managed to convince a film crew, several actors and an internationally renowned producer, David Shane, to donate their time. Palmer said while Shane, who has offices in Vancouver and New York, was their first pick, they were astounded when he agreed to do the ads.
"It was like asking Steven Spielberg," she said. "We figured we could always ask, but we had no idea he'd do it."
The group started brain-storming last November. In an effort to get a real feel for the special relationship between dog owners and their pets, they handed out Polaroid cameras and diaries to several, asking them to keep track of everyday life for a week.
"What we found was a recurring theme that life is better with a pet," she said. "It was all the fun and games, the rolling on the floor, the belly rubs. We wanted to capture those private moments."
Those belly rubs are a theme of several of the ads, one of which depicts two male roommates watching golf on TV. One of the friends leans over and starts scratching the other behind the ear and then rubbing his belly, much to his surprise.
Again the words, "Some things you can only do with a pet," appear on the screen.
Lorie Chortyk, community relations manager for the B.C. SPCA, said while the plight of animals living in shelters is often heartbreaking, everyone agreed humour was the key.
"These ads aren't designed to make anyone feel guilt-ridden. They don't say, 'Please adopt these dogs,'" she said. "Instead we focused on the amazing value a shelter animal can bring to your life and what you're missing without one."
Famous Players theatres in B.C. are running the announcements for free-they would normally cost almost $100,000-through to October. The ads coincide with the B.C.SPCA's Adoption Challenge project, which runs through September. The challenge is a friendly competition between communities to adopt out the most shelter animals.
The group has approached local TV stations for free air time and Chortyk is confident once the powers that be see the ads, they'll be available for local viewing.
As for Palmer Jarvis, Chortyk said working with the company has been an "incredible experience."
"Their best people have put in so much time and energy into this campaign it's unbelievable," she said. "The crew and actors were wonderful and all donated their time."
In a bit of a karmic twist, the free ads are creating a huge buzz in the international advertising world and last week monopolized some of the top spots at www.adcritic.com, a subsidiary of Creativity Magazine, considered an industry standard.
"Last week they took the first, sixth, 10 and 13 spots," Chortyk said. "We are just thrilled."
The ads can be viewed on the B.C. SPCA's web site, www.spca.bc.ca. "