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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Tesco and their 'All I want for Christmas is a puppy' advert

65 replies

MrsLouisTheroux · 13/10/2013 21:48

Woah! AIBU to think they have messed up bigggg time here?! (and never shop there again?!)
There is a picture in their Christmas magazine of a blurred child in front of a chalkboard which says " All I want for Christmas is a Puppy"
Their FB page is full of complaints and Tesco are denying any wrong doing, saying that it's just a picture and they are not encouraging people to buy dogs for Christmas.

OP posts:

SaggyIsHavingAPinkKitten · 13/10/2013 22:13

I do find it amusing that people think that Tesco gives a toss what they think! They do what they do in order to make money. Everything else is irrelevant!

BerstieSpotts · 13/10/2013 22:13

Right, but a magazine that people choose to pick up or not and then nay or may not read and might not even see or pay attention to the page with the one slightly dodgy picture, is miles different from an ad campaign running on TV, radio, internet and print for months where people are going to definitely see it and take in the messages even if they aren't consciously thinking about it.

Annunziata · 13/10/2013 22:13

I promise I don't work for Tesco. I am genuinely baffled by this though!

Original poster

MrsLouisTheroux · 13/10/2013 22:14

heart Yes, I know I will too... I have to go there tomorrow and pick up the cheap work suit I ordered for DH on-line yesterday... sigh.

OP posts:

Original poster

MrsLouisTheroux · 13/10/2013 22:16

hidden I think that is the point. Some idiots will look at that and it will plant the idea into their not very bright heads. Not everyone is intelligent enough to see it is wrong.

OP posts:

DropYourSword · 13/10/2013 22:17

manicinsomniac wrote exactly what I was thinking! As Tesco don't actually sell puppies, it seems like quite a bizarre advert for them to run!

fiddlemethis · 13/10/2013 22:18

Is this is a video or a picture advert? I'm trying to find it to post on my facebook, I bloody hate tesco!

Original poster

MrsLouisTheroux · 13/10/2013 22:20

fiddle Scroll down on their FB page 'posts by others on Tesco' People have put the picture up.

OP posts:

BerstieSpotts · 13/10/2013 22:33

It's not an advert. It's a picture in a magazine.

BeaverAbroad · 13/10/2013 22:41

My kids want puppies. It's just a picture with a child wanting something a child wants. If Tesco sold puppies, and showed it, it would be irresponsible. But it's just a fairly normal kid thing which is meant to be cute.

hiddenhome · 13/10/2013 22:49

A picture in a magazine is an advert unless it's part of an article.

CinderellaRockefeller · 13/10/2013 23:04

I'd see the problem if they had a picture with a girl holding a puppy or a puppy in a gift box or something like that, but I think this kind of reaction to a lifestyle shot is a bit OTT.

WorraLiberty · 13/10/2013 23:07

Bit of an over reaction there OP

Kids want lots of things, doesn't mean they're actually going to get them.

ErrolTheDragon · 13/10/2013 23:11

Silly and thoughtless. Perhaps they should do something for Dogs' Trust (motto 'A dog is for life not just for Christmas') to set the record clear that puppies shouldn't appear on Christmas present lists.

Original poster

MrsLouisTheroux · 14/10/2013 08:00

I understand people think it's an overreaction. Tesco seem to think the same on their FB page!
The campaign against Puppies/dogs for Christmas is a long one, sure that's what some children ask for in RL but why feature it in a magazine advertising a 'cosy Christmas at Tesco' set up when it goes against a campaign that has been running for years? So many other images they could have chosen for the picture.

OP posts:

BerstieSpotts · 14/10/2013 08:17

Yes technically it's an advert. But not what most people would assume was meant by an advert. It's not an ad campaign, is it? It's just one picture. I assumed from the thread title that this was a billboard campaign or TV ad, that kind of thing. I'm not in the UK so I wouldn't have seen it.

If it was one of these, then yes, absolutely, please do get worked up about it (my comment about boycotts was probably because I forget other people have more money and cars and things and so can choose where they shop easier than me) - but a one off picture in a magazine is nowhere near in the same league. The job of choosing the pictures will have been given to somebody who has nowhere near the training and/or experience of someone who is paid to come up with nationwide ad campaigns, they will have just thought "Ooh, what's Christmassy?"

MiaowTheCat · 14/10/2013 08:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

MrsLouisTheroux · 14/10/2013 08:29

Berstie: they will have just thought "Ooh, what's Christmassy?" I think that is the problem here, thoughtless and a bit stupid. As for it not being an advertising campaign, I get your point but everything Tesco puts out is part of their advertising campaign otherwise they wouldn't bother.
One picture in a magazine with a million (?!) copies will distribute this idea ( picture) to a pretty wide audience. Some people are possibly a bit dim and will think "Ooh, that's a good idea". It undermines the message Animal rights campaigners have been trying to put across for years that's all.

OP posts:

Original poster

MrsLouisTheroux · 14/10/2013 08:30

BTW, I am not an Animal rights campaigner don't like dogs but I see the harm in this nevertheless.

OP posts:

Original poster

MrsLouisTheroux · 14/10/2013 08:37

The picture is in their 'Christmas gift guide' .

OP posts:

HappyMummyOfOne · 14/10/2013 08:48

Lots of chidren ask for animals and all sorts as they believe santa is magical and can bring anything.

I cant see what Tesco have done wrong either, its just a wish from a child. Not an actual puppy in a box being handed over.

NicknameIncomplete · 14/10/2013 08:59

Maybe they asked the child what they wanted for christmas & thats what the child said.

I have the magazine & i didnt even notice the picture. I dont see the big deal.

Coupon · 14/10/2013 09:52

YANBU

ScarerAndFuck · 14/10/2013 10:10

I saw the picture on Friday and thought it was a bit thoughtless of them.

Would have been far more sensible to write something they actually sell or leave off the last couple of words, 'All I want for Christmas is...' and leave it to imagination rather than use a puppy of all things.

And I say this as someone who was given a puppy for Christmas last year and didn't want one. DH thought it would be a good idea as we had recently lost one of our other dogs. I was not happy at the time.

We still have him, he's loved and well looked after, but that's not the point. It could have been very different as so many animals are abandoned after Christmas when people realise what hard work they are.

Not something to be encouraged lightly, when it can lead to an animal being neglected, abandoned or put to sleep.

And given the serious response to the badly named halloween costumes some supermarkets were selling recently, it's sad to see that animal welfare isn't taken as seriously, either by Tesco or by some posters here.

Badvoc · 14/10/2013 10:16

God, they just keep getting it so wrong, don't they?

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