I know I’m a big baby about certain things, but isn’t this a little heavy for a commercial? I know they’re supposed to pull at your heartstrings sometimes, but shouldn’t they then have a happy ending or something? I only watch Hulu and occasionally Netflix so this is like 25% of the commercials I see. Too sad, man! Have it end with your dog getting all better or something, shit. Am I just being being an emotional nutcase?
I’m more of a nutcase than you, because I won’t even follow that link. 
If I catch a one-second glimpse of one of those dogs in cages with Silent Night playing, I immediately burst into tears and change the station. But I can’t get the picture out of my mind.
Yeah, I call it the Google kills your dog commercial.
Yes. Fuck Google…hate that commercial SO much!!
My mom told me the dog isn’t dying, he’s just sad because his boy is gone (and also because his boy took his favorite toy with him. WTF?) but I dunno. If that were true they’d show the dog happy and dancing around at the end. Not being sick still.
Google keeps doing stuff to piss me off and this one is really tipping the scales.
The commercial ends with upbeat music, so I think we’re supposed to feel like everything’s okay at the end.
Ehh, all it said was “dog’s not doing well”, not exactly the same as saying its dying. Plus the commercial did end with shots of the previously sick dog now happy and healthy with a toy in its mouth (or something) .
uh - the dog sent the message - he missed the kid that was too busy to come home for the weekend/holidays -
“Rover’s not doing to well” == he’s lonely and misses you - not he’s dieing (well, not yet anyway).
Yeah, I agree, the dogs not dying, just pining for his person.
I do remember this really effective domestic violence PSA that used to run late night, during the Conan O’Brian show, where it’s this little kid sitting on the stairs, listening to his dad beat up his mom. It’s an important cause, and I’m not saying they shouldn’t air it, but the emotional whiplash of going from, “Where’s my dinner? SLAP” to “And now, the masturbating bear!” was painful.
To me it looks like the dog is sick (that looks like a vet table that it’s lying on in the first pic of it), but not necessarily dying, and possibly doing ok in the last shot.
Oh gosh, me too. I can’t watch that stuff. That’s way worse because at least this dog is loved and presumably had a long happy life.
I don’t think so. “Honey, we need to talk. The dog isn’t doing well” implies something different than “Honey, you should come visit the dog, he really misses you!”. And at the end the dog is just sitting there with a toy in his mouth still not looking too well. If he was supposed to be all better he’d be playing fetch with the boy or something.
I don’t get why anyone would think the dog dies. The commercial ends with a shot of the dog looking up at the camera with a toy in its mouth, upbeat music playing.
Oh, okay! I HAVE seen this commercial! The dog is definitely NOT dying. Here’s what happens (channeling Adrian Monk):
The point is that the mom calls and texts the kid and he ignores her and doesn’t pick up (and presumably doesn’t come home as often as she wants him to), but when she sends him the picture of the sad dog, missing him and pining away, THEN he drops everything and runs home as fast as he can. And yeah, she may give the impression that the dog’s decline is due to more than just loneliness. Bad, twisted, manipulative Mom.
No dog dies in this commercial. I’m 100% positive.
Yeah, I think the commercial does exactly what the OP asks for and I’ve never thought the dog was dying or dead.
That said, after the events in the commercial, that dog better be dying. That guy will have purchased a last minute plane ticket only to have it canceled and then a last minute express train ticket for a ride that will take 8+ hours plus all of the other hassles involved.
If that happened to me and when I got there it was just “ah, the dog was sad from missing you” or a ploy by mom to get my attention, someone would have to die.
When I followed the link, I initially thought that they must have changed the ad, because the one I saw was rather cloyingly upbeat. I guess it is some sort of internet Rorschach test.
This might be the reason he was ignoring her…he already knows she’s crazy. 
Totally of no surprise to me or anyone else, I thought the dog was sick unto death. I saw the spot in passing while shopping, and didn’t even get the benefit of seeing whether it was alive at the end or not. I was blown away that they used that instead of some sort of classic “be home by Christmas” trope. On the other hand, it was memorable, and we’re here talking about it…
Also, I second obfusciatrist’s comment. If anyone pulled that sort of stunt on me, there would be severe repercussions for YEARS.
The first time I saw/heard that ad, I sat there with my mouth agape for a second and then shouted at the TV “Really? Sleep in heavenly peace? For an ‘adopt these guys or we kill them’ ad???” I thought the Sarah McLachlan one was bad, but damn.
Oh, I saw that ad and I thought the dog was sad his person wasn’t paying attention to him.
This is WORSE than a dog dying. Dog’s get old and ill and they go over the rainbow bridge. People shouldn’t ignore their dog because something better comes along. I even tear up when Fry’s dog dies in Futurama. Aaargh, it’s soooo sad.
I’m so bad I won’t go to a movie where a dog dies.
I bawled during the ads for the one about the Akita. And I made a giant ass of myself on the streets of Edinburgh telling my dad the story of Greyfriars’ Bobby between sobs at the memorial. As for Futurama, a bunch of us had gone to lunch together not king after I started working there, and we were discussing tv shows. Futurama came up, and I said something about how there’s one episode I just. Ant watch. Everyone at the table chorused “Jurrassic Bark!” So I guess I’m lucky to work with animal people with god senses of humor.
I love you people who are soft-hearted about dogs. I do.