Alltel cell phone ad

[Niko]

I am not sure if this is posted in the right thread however, I was watching TV when I saw the Alltel ad with the Doberman, (it is a pretty dog). My 8 yr old daughter turned to me and said "that was not a very good commercial, Dobermans are not like that, why does everyone think they are bad dogs?" :(I have a hard enough time trying to dispel some peoples negative view of the breed. I am so tired of some peoples reaction to our dog, only to say once they get to know him, "WOW what a great dog , I thought they were all vicious".:mad: I feel this ad reflects negatively on the breed and does not help in anyway. On Doberman hero's I did find a contact name for the director of marketing. For the first time ever I am going to tell them how perturbed I am with the ad. I am venting here, because I am very protective of this breed, but I also wonder if anyone else has the same issue with the public when they see/meet your dog. OK I feel better now, thanks for listening.
Cathy

[Elaine]

Sure, we get the "Dobermans will turn on you" thing... I agree that the Alltel ad is horrible PR for Dobermans.

One Tungsten story http://logresfarm.com/Ch.%20Logres'%20Tungsten.htm or Havok story does so much that is positive for our breed... and then some schmuck moron T.V. producer goes for a cheap stereotype about Dobermans and we're screwed. :mad:

I think we should write Ellen DeGeneres. Ellen is very vocal about the impact stereotypes have on Gays, specifically that media portrayal generates public hatred of Gays. There are parallels between the portrayals of Gays and the stereotypical portrayals of Dobermans, both of which generate fear, which ultimately can lead to breeding bans, forced confiscation and euthanasia. I think we should all lobby Ellen to do a show on Tungsten and Havok. You can go to Ellen's website and purpose a show topic Ellen’s website is here http://ellen.warnerbros.com/

[Niko]

I saw the video of the, first they turn on you, beautiful!!! This brought a happy tear to my eye. I think what Brenna and Tungsten is doing is wonderful!!!Niko thinks all humans are chairs he thinks he is still a puppy. He sits on couches as a human would, it makes everyone laugh. I would love to get some PR out there to Ellen, and maybe Oprah, my best friends cousin works on Oprah's production team! I will propose this topic to both!! Wish me luck with the sea of ideas they get!
Cathy

[valkyrie1]

I just wanted to drop a quick post thanking you for including Havok in your post about possitive role models in Dobermans. That was very Kind.
I also would like to add how cool the Tungsten Story and Video are. He seems like a very sensitive / intuitive dog. The video with that boy is priceless.

I have another post that I am going to add to this subjet that MAY be controversial........but it is going to take some time to put my thoughts together on that one so it will be a while before I post it.

I did not want this message to get lost in that.

Sue

[Elaine]

Sue,

Post what you know, and what you believe... try to keep a clear distinction between the two... and enjoy. :)

Elaine

[Niko]

Sue,
I would love to read Havoks story, how can I read it. Is there a link you can send?
Cathy

[valkyrie1]

I really have not written Havok's story anywhere. The short story is that my mother has a spinal condition that makes her loose her balance quite easily. Especially on loose footing, like gravel,dirt etc, and any change in elevation such as going up an ddown stairs. Twice she has fallen hard enough that she ended up needing the attention of the Medics who luckily were on site. Havok balances her and steadies her up and down stairs and balances her if she starts to stumble. If she starts to loose her balance he instinctively coutner balances her. He was not trained to do that he just intuitively started doing it working with her.

There is some video on my website
I think you can access it direclty @

http://stardustdobermans.com/media/servicedog2.WMV

Sue L

[valkyrie1]

I have not seen the alltel commercial in question, however, I have found their series of commercials effective memorable, and pretty funny up to this point. (For the record I am not a Alltel Customer LOL). Basically the premise up to this point is that our “Hero” is Chad. Chad is an Alltel sales man. He is just a nice guy promoting all these great services with his phone company line their “My Circle” plan that lets you have unlimited calls to other cell phones numbers regardless of their providers. The other providers limit those to people on the same network.

The villains in this series are 4 other sales people representing the other cellular providers, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, & T-Mobile. They are always plotting some way of taking Chad out so that they will not have to compete with his “Superior” offers. However, they are kind of incompetent putzes. They have tried kidnapping, bringing in a Wizard to banish him and various other plots. Well the Wizard turned out to be one of Chad’s customers and has been protecting Chad from these other 4 guys who want to cause him harm.

Can someone tell me is the Doberman also protecting Chad from the 4 other salesmen? I honestly would probably have a different opinion depending on whether the dog is attacking or defending our “Hero”.

The truth is the working heritage of the Doberman is that of a Protection Breed. I think it is extremely important that we get the message out about all the good things our breed can do, including, service work, therapy work, search and rescue etc. But we would be doing a great disservice to the breed by not acknowledging their protective nature as well. It is in fact what the Doberman was bred for and in my opinion it should be preserved. That is one reason doing a ROM to ROM breeding was important to me.

I guess my oppinion is if the Dog is being used by the Villains to attack Chad it is inappropriate and should be addressed. However, if protecting Chad is also inappropriate, then when , if ever, would it be OK to show our breed as protective on TV or in Movies?

Sue L

[Athy]

Can someone tell me is the Doberman also protecting Chad from the 4 other salesmen? I honestly would probably have a different opinion depending on whether the dog is attacking or defending our “Hero”.


Hi, Sue. From what I can see in the ads, the Doberman has the same role that the Wizard had. The four competitors summon the Wizard (or the Dobe) to do harm to Chad and instead, the Wizard (lr the Dobe) protects Chad. Although the Doberman didn't send any of the four competitors into oblivion as the Wizard did ;) In the Wizard's case, the four showed up at Chad's store. In the Dobe's case they showed up at his home.

That's why I've been kind of torn on this too. The Dobe was doing what we expect a Dobe to do wasn't he?

Athy

[andyhilt27]

I just saw this add last night for the first time. I loved it!!! In my eyes the Doberman is doing exactly what it was bred to do. The four villians were interrupting the wizard's family dinner. The dog was protecting his owner's territory (the wizard's home). He is a very lovely looking dog. I watched it in slow motion severals times.:D Anyone know of his pedigree? Actually I just watched it again and I think it is a bitch.