Try not to smile

November 9, 2007 9:27 AM

Just a gentle little clip to make you smile on a Friday - a 30 sec spot for Oregon's Humane Society. [via]
posted by patricio (69 comments total)

A very lovely cat.

_{And thanks, patricio. I do lub aminals.}
posted by illiad at 9:33 AM on November 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'm tearing up. Actually really.
posted by the dief at 9:34 AM on November 9, 2007

Sure. Thirty thousand kids will die of starvation today.
Let's get all teary-eyed about finding pets a home and food.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:43 AM on November 9, 2007 [2 favorites]

This is awesome.
posted by Arturus at 9:49 AM on November 9, 2007

Sure. Thirty thousand kids will die of starvation today.
Let's get all teary-eyed about finding pets a home and food.

So you're suggesting people adopt a child rather than a pet?
posted by Dr-Baa at 9:51 AM on November 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

So you're suggesting people adopt a child rather than a pet?

I think he's suggesting that we feed the starving children to pets in shelters.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:56 AM on November 9, 2007 [18 favorites]

Jeepers, I assumed I'd quietly thumb my nose at weapons-grade pandemonium for being a sourpuss.

But - people were truly moved by that candy-coated cartoon?
posted by Jody Tresidder at 10:00 AM on November 9, 2007

Thirty thousand kids will die of starvation today.

And 9.6 million animals are euthanized annually in the United States.

Let's once again trot out the pointless "taking care of humans" versus "taking care of animals" argument for another joyous festival of endless bickering.
posted by blucevalo at 10:00 AM on November 9, 2007 [7 favorites]

Divisive remarks (if helping x, you're not helping y) are counterproductive. There are a plurality of goods in this world, and people devote time and money to them as they see fit, under their own ranking scheme which may or may not line up with yours. That's a good thing. It means that a plurality of goods get addressed and covered, in what amounts to a democratic, grassroots manner.

You're fighting the wrong fight here. You want to go after people who aren't involved at all, not people who are involved with something you think is less important. Moreover, many people are involved in more than one cause. Just because someone's tearing up at a bunch of puppies doesn't mean they aren't also caring about starving children, and it's foolish to assume otherwise.

Fighting this only alienates people, and reinforces your bitterness. It's unproductive, and based on false premises. Don't do it.
posted by Arturus at 10:01 AM on November 9, 2007 [44 favorites]

Which is a long way of saying: appreciate good stuff for it's goodness. Focusing on it's lack of other sorts of goodness leads to madness.

It's as simple as that.
posted by Arturus at 10:03 AM on November 9, 2007 [2 favorites]

They need to run this ad every hour to combat the onset of SAD here.

Also, I went with my sister when she adopted a cat there. It seems like a well run facility and you're close to the best Coney dogs in town!
posted by asterisk at 10:10 AM on November 9, 2007

I love how you guys are so bitter and curmudgeonly you can literally get furious about the idea of people having pets.

What the heck is wrong with you? How do you even manage to go through life with that attitude?

PS: that clip was adorable. And you cranky people would find yourselves suddenly about 85% more cheerful if you had a dog, but hey, epic grouchiness is more righteous, yeah?
posted by thehmsbeagle at 10:11 AM on November 9, 2007 [3 favorites]

any idea who did that spot? (dear lord, now i really sound like the jargony ad guy that i am)
posted by mrballistic at 10:13 AM on November 9, 2007

duh. i should rtfa.
posted by mrballistic at 10:14 AM on November 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

Like Peta, the Humane Society might not be all it's cracked up to be.
posted by whimsicalnymph at 10:15 AM on November 9, 2007

More like weapons-grade douchebaggery.
posted by basicchannel at 10:17 AM on November 9, 2007 [3 favorites]

Also, I went with my sister when she adopted a cat there. It seems like a well run facility and you're close to the best Coney dogs in town!

Coincidence? I think not!
posted by oneirodynia at 10:21 AM on November 9, 2007

About the only thing that the tagline "end petlessness" does is remind me of WKRP in Cincinnati.
posted by googly at 10:24 AM on November 9, 2007

Ok, kids. Break it up. That was a super-sweet clip and yes, I teared up. What was the song? It sounded almost like Feist.
posted by arcticwoman at 10:31 AM on November 9, 2007

Whimsicalnymph and weapons grade pandemonium--

You are both right. The best option is to do nothing but point at the fireman, putting out the house fire and yell "shouldn't you be putting out a bigger fire someplace else?".

Get bent the both of you.

Very nice ad.
posted by zerobyproxy at 10:31 AM on November 9, 2007 [2 favorites]

Never mind, one of the youtubers ID'd it as Hands in Pocket, by Laura Gibson.
posted by arcticwoman at 10:32 AM on November 9, 2007

Sure. Thirty thousand kids will die of starvation today.

So you are saying that we need to have an additional 30,000 abortions a day?
posted by Mr_Zero at 10:35 AM on November 9, 2007

The other subtle point made here is that the person adopting the pet probably benefits more than the pet, oftentimes. But WGP is right, until we solve the obesity/WMD/trade deficit/immigration/global warming/halitosis/ass-crack sweat/hipstersoncellphones problem all these fucking quadripeds should plan on incineration.
posted by docpops at 10:35 AM on November 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

I hate it when my phone turns into a cat, I mean I love the kitties and all, but there is nothing worse that having one appear right next to your head. They usually get so freaked out that they start scratching everything in sight.

It's even worse when, as you try to protect your face from this ball of angry spitting fur, your TV suddenly turns into a dog.
posted by quin at 10:37 AM on November 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'm not touching this debate with a 39-and-a-half-foot python.
posted by tepidmonkey at 10:42 AM on November 9, 2007

Cute clip.

I wish I were rich enough and had a stable enough life-style to allow me to get a dog. *sigh*
posted by slimepuppy at 10:46 AM on November 9, 2007

We really do need an option to negative-favorite comments. I wouldn't use it very often, but there are times where it is certainly deserved.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:47 AM on November 9, 2007 [5 favorites]

Yeah, Slarty Bartfast. I'd also like an option to "fucktard" someone. That way, when I read something inane, I can immediately see the fucktard rating, and act accordingly.
posted by Eekacat at 10:51 AM on November 9, 2007

"PS: that clip was adorable. And you cranky people would find yourselves suddenly about 85% more cheerful if you had a dog, but hey, epic grouchiness is more righteous, yeah?"
posted by thehmsbeagle

PPS: that clip is was not adorable. It was - after a 2nd viewing to check - sappy, predictable, and excruciatingly faux-playful. And I have a cheerfully much-loved cat, and our cheerful son walks dogs at an animal shelter. So there you go.
posted by Jody Tresidder at 11:04 AM on November 9, 2007

WWBBS?

Bob Barker -- hey I never realized until now his name is so eponysterical.
posted by ericb at 11:06 AM on November 9, 2007

Sure. Thirty thousand kids will die of starvation today.
Let's get all teary-eyed about finding pets a home and food.

I know what will help! Posting to Metafilter.
posted by peep at 11:07 AM on November 9, 2007 [3 favorites]

I love how you guys are that one guy is so bitter and curmudgeonly you can literally get furious about the idea of people having pets.

There, fixed that for you.
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:13 AM on November 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

That was a very sweet spot, but then I'm a pet-lover -- and I say that having very literally just now chased a flea off my desk. Uh, because the flea isn't my pet, a cat is.

More Laura Gibson [myspace]. Among other things, she is the official cat-sitter for HUSH Records.

whimsicalnymph, that article is about the Human Society of the United States, a vegan/PETA-like group. This ad is for the Oregon Human Society, which actually runs an animal shelter. Or were you just trying to muddy the waters?
posted by dhartung at 11:16 AM on November 9, 2007

PPS: that clip is was not adorable. It was - after a 2nd viewing to check - sappy, predictable, and excruciatingly faux-playful. And I have a cheerfully much-loved cat, and our cheerful son walks dogs at an animal shelter. So there you go.

So-- that makes you more qualified to judge if something is cute? Is that how it works? I didn't realize there was an official seal you can get.
posted by thehmsbeagle at 11:31 AM on November 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

Some of you are jumping off the logic wagon here. Others are revealing more about your own manners than mine. I'm not against people having pets. I've had lots of pets. I may be getting a bit weary of all the cute pet posts on MetaFilter, but I am guilty of posting one myself.

But this post is about "ending petlessness". We don't need to end petlessness any more than we need to end SUVlessness. "A pet for every man woman and child" seems more than a bit stupid in view of the fact that there are too many critters on the planet. Pets consume a large and expanding quantity of the earth's resources. Our pets eat better than most people in the third world. That huge supermarket aisle full of food and toys and gadgets didn't exist when I was a kid. We didn't spend half the party conversation talking about our dogs' personalities. We didn't buy them clothes and acupuncture sessions. We didn't bring them in to "greet" (read "jump up and drool on") the dinner guests because they were "part of the family". They were just dogs and cats. We threw sticks and chased them around the yard and took them hiking. So I'm a curmugeon. But I'm against ending petlessness. And I pointed out a social and environmental irony. But where did I say you can't have a pet until we solve world hunger?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:42 AM on November 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

Dear god! Will we fight about anything?! How about this for a topic...

air....I like to breathe air... go on...flame me!
posted by The Light Fantastic at 11:45 AM on November 9, 2007

air....I like to breathe air... go on...flame me!

Well, then you don't mind if I have a smoke next to ya' now, do you? Can I have a light? ; )
posted by ericb at 11:56 AM on November 9, 2007

I'll bite, TLF: Do we come here just to kiss each other's cutesy asses, or can we have reasonably intelligent differences of opinion?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 12:03 PM on November 9, 2007

air....I like to breathe air... go on...flame me!

So it's you that's been producing all that carbon dioxide. Don't you know that you are killing out planet?
posted by quin at 12:04 PM on November 9, 2007

ass-crack sweat

Thanks a whole hell of a lot docpops. Something I didn't need to have made real is now real.
posted by illiad at 12:06 PM on November 9, 2007

So-- that makes you more qualified to judge if something is cute? Is that how it works? I didn't realize there was an official seal you can get.


Didn't mean it, didn't say it, thehmsbeagle

Just pointing out that disliking the style, and the self-aware naive narrative of the cartoon doesn't prove the critic is a pet-strangling grump!
posted by Jody Tresidder at 12:07 PM on November 9, 2007

I'd respond to WGP but I'm late driving my dog to his playdate.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:11 PM on November 9, 2007

Some of you are jumping off the logic wagon here.

Some may note that you led the charge.
posted by Dr-Baa at 12:24 PM on November 9, 2007

wgp: well, I'm not sure that your ill-feeling towards the recent fetishisation of pets (though what in today's world isn't fetishished by popular culture?) is anything to do with animal shelters trying to rehouse pets rather than kill them. Perhaps you see animal shelters as "enablers" in some way, allowing people to let their animals breed, safe in the knowledge that they can always dump them in the shelter?
posted by patricio at 12:26 PM on November 9, 2007

This Is Charley. Charley has cerebellar hypoplasia.
posted by homunculus at 12:34 PM on November 9, 2007

Wait, wait, wait. WGP makes some good points. Yes, yes, the ad is cute. Adorable, even. But just think about the tagline at the end for a second, and remember that the ad agency that produced this probably had 15 people spend hours coming up with that line.

"End petlessness. A pet for every man, woman, and child."

End petlessness? Seriously? Like, "end hunger?" Or "end poverty?" Are they seriously saying that "petlessness" is a major social issue? Abandoned pets, dogfighting, and cruelty to animals? Yes. Lonely elders and prisoners who may really benefit from the companionship and responsibility that pet ownership brings? Yes. But not 'petlessness.'

A pet for every man, woman, and child. Seriously? So a four-person family should have four pets? That couple who just had IVF-assisted quintuplets now also has to make room for Fido, Daisy, Marmaduke, Garfield, and Felix? Sure, I think pets are great. I love them. I even agree that more pets might mean a better world. But I don't think every single person on the planet should have one.

Once you get past the cute cartoon, its pretty hard to figure out what the hell the Oregon Humane Society is really advocating here.

[Full disclosure: My household currently has a cat for every man and woman, but I don't think that couples who only have one cat are missing out or anything].
posted by googly at 12:40 PM on November 9, 2007

Googly: Agree with both you and WGP on that excellent point.
posted by Jody Tresidder at 12:47 PM on November 9, 2007

I can't tell if you're being serious or facetious.

I mean, you'd have a point if the OHS launched a multi-million dollar campaign and went door-to-door offering instant adoptions. But they're not.

The plate of beans has been thoroughly overthought. It's just a cute (even that has been argued here, ffs) commercial trying to get people to think about adopting a pet.
posted by Dr-Baa at 12:48 PM on November 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't think it's hard to figure it out at all. I read the "end petlessness" tag line as tongue-in-cheek. Not a serious campaign. Sort of like if Snickers had an ad campaign to end mid-afternoon hunger.

You people REALLY think the OHS thinks that "petlessness" is an actual condition? That all people should have pets? (Considering they pick up the pieces of neglected and abused animals, I can guarantee you they do not.)

It's just a sweet little spot reminding people of the joy that pets bring into people's lives.
posted by misskaz at 1:00 PM on November 9, 2007

It's just a sweet little spot reminding people of the joy that pets bring into people's lives.
posted by misskaz

Oh, like give a puppy for Christmas?


sorry
posted by Jody Tresidder at 1:07 PM on November 9, 2007

Oh, like give a puppy for Christmas?

Sorta off topic, but actually, a lot of reputable adoption groups (at least the ones I've ever been involved with) refuse to adopt out a dog for someone to give as a gift. Most shelters see a big intake right after the holidays because of people buying pets for other people.
posted by inigo2 at 1:18 PM on November 9, 2007

It's an ad campaign with a memorable (and, yes, cutesy) slogan. Do you really believe that all such slogans are to be taken literally? I'd hate to see the indignation wrought by "I'd like to buy the world a Coke."
posted by joseph_elmhurst at 1:57 PM on November 9, 2007

I was feeding one of the gazelles in the public gardens.

Gazelles are almost the only animals that look good to eat when they are still alive, in fact, one can hardly look at their hindquarters without thinking of mint sauce. The gazelle I was feeding seemed to know that this thought was in my mind, for though it took the piece of bread I was holding out it obviously did not like me. It nibbled rapidly at the bread, then lowered its head and tried to butt me, then took another nibble and then butted again. Probably its idea was that if it could drive me away the bread would somehow remain hanging in mid-air.

An Arab navvy working on the path nearby lowered his heavy hoe and sidled towards us. He looked from the gazelle to the bread and from the bread to the gazelle, with a sort of quiet amazement, as though he had never seen anything quite like this before. Finally he said shyly in French:

"I could eat some of that bread."

I tore off a piece and he stowed it gratefully in some secret place under his rags. This man is an employee of the Municipality.

--George Orwell, Marrakech
posted by darksasami at 2:01 PM on November 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't think it's hard to figure it out at all. I read the "end petlessness" tag line as tongue-in-cheek. Not a serious campaign. Sort of like if Snickers had an ad campaign to end mid-afternoon hunger.

Yup, and I'd bet dollars to donuts that WGP read it that way too. But then when people reacted to his needlessly bitter post, he had to figure out some way to back-justify his pissy rant. So he pretended to have a problem with the specifics of the ad's tagline.
Is there a term for posting something really bitter and snarky on a message-board, then when people call you on it, you pretend your comment was actually an attempt at honest, intelligent discourse? Anyone care to make one up?
posted by Ziggurat at 2:08 PM on November 9, 2007

Cute Humane Society spot (and what joseph_elmhurst said about taking slogans literally), but if you haven't clicked on illiad's link (first comment), you really need to. It starts out funny and then gets exponentially funnier.
posted by languagehat at 2:09 PM on November 9, 2007

I wish I were rich enough and had a stable enough life-style to allow me to get a dog. *sigh*

That makes an interesting point: I think shelter dogs are another victim of our society's "affluenza". At least here in Chicago, you pretty much have to be rich to have a dog because it's nearly impossible to find a dog-friendly rental apartment and in order to own your own place here you have to have money coming out your ass.

If my landlord suddenly decided we could have a dog my fiancé and I would be at the shelter at opening time tomorrow. As it is, there is a whole big group of people who could afford to take good care of a dog yet can't afford to live in a place that would let them have one. And I noticed that almost everyone here who CAN have a dog fricking buys some diseased inbred one for $800 from a pet shop. That really pisses me off.
posted by Jess the Mess at 2:33 PM on November 9, 2007

patricio - I smiled. For that, I thank you. I've had a crappy week, too.
posted by wg at 2:42 PM on November 9, 2007

Ziggurat: Is there a name for making an assumption about a person's motives, defining your assumption in loaded and insulting terms, betting dollars to donuts that it's correct (to add credence), and then asking if there's a name for it, thereby proving your assumption correct? How about Ad Hominem? Nice to see you on the bandwagon, though.

Whether or not you take "petlessness" literally, the gist of the ad is to promote wider pet ownership. Guess why so many Humaine Societies exist--there are already too many unwanted pets, and the problem is getting worse. I think patricio raised a good point about enablers. It's a slippery slope with a feedback loop at the bottom. Responsible Humaine Societies promote responsible pet ownership, adoption, neutering, and even pet reduction, even though that's not in their best business interest.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:53 PM on November 9, 2007

Oh, and Ziggurat: Is there a name for a MeFite who favorites his own comment?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:57 PM on November 9, 2007

Responsible Humaine Societies promote responsible pet ownership, adoption, neutering, and even pet reduction, even though that's not in their best business interest.

Responsible Humane Societies aren't businesses.
posted by Jess the Mess at 3:05 PM on November 9, 2007

Is there a name for a MeFite who favorites his own comment?

A MeFavorite!
posted by ericb at 3:06 PM on November 9, 2007 [3 favorites]

Whether or not you take "petlessness" literally, the gist of the ad is to promote wider pet ownership. Guess why so many Humaine Societies exist--there are already too many unwanted pets, and the problem is getting worse.

Um, yes. Thus why they promote wider pet ownership as a rather obvious solution to the problem of unwanted pets. For fuck's sake, they're not calling for some dystopian world in which pets are churned out from gigantic factories-of-birth to appease the masses. I suspect they would like people to select a pet from the many that already exist, thus converting it from an unwanted pet to a wanted one.

In short, "there are already too many unwanted pets" implies that there are too many pets, but it also implies that there's not enough wanting, if you get my drift. I don't see what's wrong with an ad that targets the latter part of the problem rather than the former.
posted by vorfeed at 3:39 PM on November 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

Whether or not you take "petlessness" literally, the gist of the ad is to promote wider pet ownership.

The gist of the ad is to get people to adopt the animals they have in their shelters. It's a humane society. That is, I believe, part of their mission.

Oh, and Ziggurat: Is there a name for a MeFite who favorites his own comment?

Heh. Guilty as charged. I (sometimes) work in marketing. What can I say?

And I'm not sure that my adding "bet dollars to donuts" really adds to the credence of my post, but I'm glad you think so.

And maybe I was questioning the motive of your first comment. It seemed to me that it was to shit on the post, and make people feel bad for being moved by it.
posted by Ziggurat at 3:44 PM on November 9, 2007

First of all, the add is great. I live in Oregon. I see the Oregon Humane Society billboards when I'm riding my bike to work. They are adorable. I even have two dogs. Pets make my world shine.

I was only recently made aware of the shadiness of the national Humane Society and (I admittedly) failed to distinguish this from the Oregon Humane Society. I made the mistake of assuming that the Oregon Humane Society was a local division of/ affiliated with the national Humane Society. Upon further research, it is not.

By including those links to PETA and the Humane Society, I am just trying to share something that I recently found to be pretty shocking, since I thought these organizations were awesome up until a few days ago.

I am not asking firemen to put out bigger fires. I am asking firemen to put out the fires they claim to be aiming at, instead of watering the well-manicured lawn of some rich alarmists.

I hold no ill will towards anyone here. I just want to clear up my intentions.

I obviously made the egregious mistake of assuming two "like-named" organizations were the same thing. Shame on me. Duly noted.
posted by whimsicalnymph at 3:47 PM on November 9, 2007

Sometimes you can get a finicky cat to eat by telling him how children are starving in Africa.
posted by Tube at 4:12 PM on November 9, 2007 [2 favorites]

If I made a Venn diagram of people who find this moving and poignant and people who've shed a tear at least once during American Idol do you suppose it would be more circular or figure-8 shaped?
posted by Space Coyote at 4:47 PM on November 9, 2007

I tore off a piece and he stowed it gratefully in some secret place under his rags. This man is an employee of the Municipality.

George Orwell kicks ass. Unfortunately, the stuff of his that everybody reads is not his best stuff. Top of the list is Politics and the English Language.
posted by neuron at 6:40 PM on November 9, 2007

That was cute, but these are the best pet adoption commercials ever made.
posted by arcticwoman at 6:57 PM on November 9, 2007

Jess the Mess: I live in Chicago, and rent, and have had a large dog for 5 years. I don't find it hard to find dog-friendly housing, even for my 70 lb greyhound. My previous apartment I found through an apartment finder service, which only showed me dog-friendly places, and my current apartment was on craigslist (which also allows you to limit your search to dog and cat friendly places). I won't argue that it's somewhat more difficult and that your choices are more limited, but it is certainly not impossible for those of us forced to rent. All but one of my dog-owning friends also rent - I find Chicago to be one of the most dog friendly cities I've ever lived in. I'm only pointing this out because if you really do want a dog, don't write it off as impossible. Good luck!
posted by misskaz at 5:40 PM on November 10, 2007