# Your beloved dog is dying commercial **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beloved-dog-is-dying-commercial/677126 "2013-12-25T04:23:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beloved-dog-is-dying-commercial/677126/21 "2013-12-26T02:26:47Z")
the commercial is telling us that the faster way to get your child or owner’s attention is to trick them, or to play dead. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beloved-dog-is-dying-commercial/677126/22 "2013-12-26T03:03:32Z")
I used to think that the commercials featuring helpless, suffering animals were the most depressing ones on television. [Then I saw this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMgo14M2OyA). ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beloved-dog-is-dying-commercial/677126/23 "2013-12-26T05:44:09Z")
I long ago decided I’d start being emotionally bothered by fictional dogs dying as soon as I start being emotionally bothered by fictional people dying. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beloved-dog-is-dying-commercial/677126/24 "2013-12-26T07:19:00Z")
Maybe you guys are right that the dog was just missing the boy. I’m going to watch it that way from now on. If that’s what they were going for though, they really should have shown the dog playing at the end! > [@Marion\_Wormer](#): > > 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. So he shouldn’t have gone away to college? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beloved-dog-is-dying-commercial/677126/25 "2013-12-26T13:31:50Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > I long ago decided I’d start being emotionally bothered by fictional dogs dying as soon as I start being emotionally bothered by fictional people dying. We get sad because the fictional characters trigger our sadness over our own real losses. It HELPS to remind yourself “it’s only a story,” unless you’re already sobbing your guts out by then. Anyway, those starving, homeless dogs and kids are real. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beloved-dog-is-dying-commercial/677126/26 "2013-12-29T06:40:32Z")
RIP Buster ☹ and damn you whoever made the commercial ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beloved-dog-is-dying-commercial/677126/27 "2013-12-29T16:40:24Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > 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) . In front of whatever device the kid was using. I assumed the dog got better in the end. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beloved-dog-is-dying-commercial/677126/28 "2013-12-29T17:12:10Z")
I never assumed the dog was dying, just that he missed the kid. And after the kid ignored his mom’s texts and calls, she finally got his attention by, in effect, saying, _“Okay, so it doesn’t matter to you that I miss you, Rover misses you-- does THAT matter at all??”_ And apparently it did. Icky situation all around. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beloved-dog-is-dying-commercial/677126/29 "2013-12-29T17:31:17Z")
Boomer is fine, goddamit. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beloved-dog-is-dying-commercial/677126/30 "2013-12-29T17:46:29Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I never assumed the dog was dying, just that he missed the kid. And after the kid ignored his mom’s texts and calls, she finally got his attention by, in effect, saying, _“Okay, so it doesn’t matter to you that I miss you, Rover misses you-- does THAT matter at all??”_ And apparently it did. Icky situation all around. THAT would make a much better commercial. It’s just too bad that’s not what the final product looks like. That dog is a goner. ---
**Author:** ![born\_too\_late](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@born\_too\_late](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/born_too_late)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beloved-dog-is-dying-commercial/677126/31 "2013-12-30T14:49:22Z")
In the last shot, the tablet is sitting in front of the dog - the first time I saw the ad, this made me think that they wanted you to think that it was the dog that sent the messages the whole time, and it was just a clever dog being manipulative. But if that’s what they were intending, it was pretty poorly executed - too subtle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beloved-dog-is-dying-commercial/677126.md?page=1)