Subaru rabbit ad angers activists

[Guest guest]

From page B1 of today's Chron:

 

Subaru Rabbit Ad Makes Activists Hopping Mad

 

George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, June 12, 2002

 

 

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The bunny is clearly the scene stealer in the 30-second television

advertisement for the Subaru Forester, in which a mother and daughter

release a rabbit only after finding the perfect patch of forest. Who knew

that the ad describes a death sentence?

 

People who know a thing or two about rabbits understand that the domestic

animals don't have the survival skills of the wild ones and will quickly be

taken by a predator.

 

The ad, which first aired nationwide June 3, was being edited Tuesday by

Subaru's ad agency, Temerlin McClain of Dallas.

 

It's doubtful, however, that a new version will appease rabbit rescue and

education activists like Margo DeMello of Berkeley.

 

" This commercial is extremely disturbing to us, " said DeMello, executive

director of the House Rabbit Society (140 volunteers strong, in 40 states

including a shelter in Richmond), " and could not have been introduced at a

worse time of year -- a time when many former Easter rabbits are released

outdoors, exactly as shown. "

 

She added, " Subaru's commercial portrays an irresponsible and illegal act as

an act of compassion. " (Illegal, she said, because releasing domestic

animals is barred by law in many states.)

 

The House Rabbit Society (www.rabbit.org) and sister groups such as Friends

of Rabbits in Alexandria, Va. (www.friendsofrabbits.org) are conducting an

e- mail and letter-writing campaign to call attention to the offending ad.

They have asked Subaru to withdraw the commercial, which the automaker has

refused to do.

 

It appears as part of a series on major CBS and NBC programming including

" The West Wing, " " Will & Grace, " " Judging Amy, " " Everybody Loves Raymond "

and " Dateline. "

 

At Subaru of America headquarters in Cherry Hill, N.J., Rob Moran, a

spokesman, said, " There's been a misconception of what we are trying to do

in the ad campaign. "

 

The ad shows a mom picking up her daughter at school, where the rabbit has

presumably been cared for, so that they can release it back with its own

kind. (More important for Subaru, the Forester transports the two safely

into the woods.)

 

" We intended this to be a wild rabbit, and that is what it is, " Moran said.

 

That's not so, DeMello said.

 

The docile critter in the ad is not a cottontail or wild rabbit, she said --

 

its coloring and deportment are different. The white nose and white paw are

typical of a domestic rabbit, she said.

 

Said Moran, " We are listening to what people have to say. They have

certainly enlightened us. "

 

DeMello joined the House Rabbit Society, the only national rabbit advocacy

group, not long after it was formed in the East Bay in 1988. The group has

only one paid employee, at the Richmond shelter, and works with sister

groups in Europe and Canada. DeMello said she has heard from countless

members offended by the Subaru ad.

 

In Alexandria, Va., Vineeta Anand, who runs Friends of Rabbits, said that

the animals can live long lives, but that owners who buy them in pet stores

have only short-term plans for them.

 

" Of course, they are adorable -- what puppy or kitty or rabbit isn't? " she

said. But in reality, owners lose interest and discard them -- " pick your

excuse of the day, " she said.

 

Can Subaru somehow resolve the matter? " Nothing short of pulling the ad will

satisfy us, " Anand said.