Internet website giant GoDaddy.com is pulling the puppy ad it released Tuesday on YouTube, after a strong backlash of comments from people who support pet adoption and rescue.
"Thank you @animalrescuers for the candid feedback," tweeted company CEO and San Luis Obispo resident Blake Irving early Tuesday afternoon. "What should have been a fun and funny ad clearly missed the mark and we will not air it."
The YouTube posting of the clip was shifted to "private" Tuesday afternoon as well.
The Twitter account mentioned by Irving belongs to the SPCA serving Monterey County.
"Well it was definitely more than just us, there was an outpouring of frustration from the entire animal welfare community today," said Beth Brookhouser, Director of Community Outreach for the agency. "We're very pleased they decided to pull the ad and hope they use this an an opportunity to educate about adoption and the animal welfare issues that are out there."
This year will mark 11 straight years that GoDaddy.com will air an ad during the game. In the early years, GoDaddy earned a reputation for featuring scantily-clad women in their commercials. But, over the past two years, the company has taken a different approach under the guidance of CEO Blake Irving.
This year's ad was to feature a cute puppy—Buddy—who needs to find his way home. The spot ends with a twist that highlights a woman who uses GoDaddy's services for her business. However, after the video was released Tuesday on YouTube, the post received a steady stream of negative comments on social media.
Prior to learning of the puppy ad misstep, Irving said he was happy to shift GoDaddy's ad focus from the sexy ad campaigns it began airing early in the company's Super Bowl experience.
"When I joined the company two years ago, one of the observations I made prior to joining was that I didn't see how there was a connection between the ads that we were running... really squared with our customers," said Blake. "I wanted to shift that so that we could feature small businesses—actually feature women as small business owners."
The company chose to go with one 30 second spot this year, which industry reports put in the $4.5 million dollar range. The company's spot is expected to air during the third quarter.
"You’ll still see us in the Big Game this year, and we hope it makes you laugh," said Irving in a statement on the company's website.
Irving makes his home in San Luis Obispo, and this year's puppy ad was also filmed on the Central Coast in rural Ventura County.
While GoDaddy headquarters are in Scottsdale, Arizona, Irving says it's an easy commute from the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport with three non-stops a day to Phoenix.