Poo-sniffing puppy cleared by ad body
Kleenex’s backside-sniffing puppy has been cleared by the Ad Standards Board despite triggering a string of complaints.
When the ad – featuring a puppy sniffing out people whose bottoms were not properly clean because they had failed to use Kleenex Cottonelle – was launched last month, parent company Kimberly-Clark said it was moving into “edgier” territory.
The ad was created by JWT and discussed what it described as “the gripple effect”.
“Surely there is some other way of advertising paper for wiping arses than stooping to such banality. I do not wish to be subjected to dogs sniffing people’s arses.”
“This ad is totally disgusting and in poor taste it infers that unless you use this type of toilet paper then you will have poo in your pants after you use the toilet.”
“To suggest that people who do not use Kleenex are walking around with faecal matter attached to their bottom is ludicrous. Must we be submitted to such poor taste? This is not clever; this is the lowest that a toilet company can get without displaying someone actually using the toilet. Is that to come next?”
“How is it ads like this get on TV? First we were subjected to a person urinating in a soup cooking pot (another company) now we have to watch a dog sniffing backsides!! This ad should be removed immediately!”
“The fact it is a puppy doing the sniffing does not lessen the degrading and disgusting action being done by the dog.”
However, Kimberly-Clark argued: “The dog in the TVC is a puppy that is behaving like a typical puppy, sniffing, being inquisitive and playful. Whist the puppy approaches most of the people in the TVC from behind, at no stage during the TVC does the puppy actually come into direct contact with any of the backsides of the cast.”
The ASB ruled: “The Board considered that most members of the community would find the advertisement to be cheeky and humorous and would recognise the advertiser‟s response regarding the puppy being a long standing branding device used on Kleenex Cottonelle.”
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Kleenex have to be kidding – stronger? Stronger than what? Their cottonelle is NOT strong. It should be rebranded to GoldFinger. But they need to come up with gimmicks to account for the ever larger diameter cardboard tube in the centre, the narrowing rolls, and the roll being rolled more loosely. Toilet paper used to have far more sheets on a roll – more than 250 was standard. What are they down to now? 200 sheets? 180 sheets? 150 sheets on a roll? The shrinking rolls and increased prices are far more offensive than the ad. The ad’s just tasteless.
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Oh dear, calm down and make yourselves another cuppa. The ad will be over in 30sec.
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I love the bottom sniffing Lab puppy, it is in fact my favourite ad. so glad I will continue to keep seeing that little cutie
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The ad is disgusting. And insult to everyone including the puppy and targets ferrel individuals. It took a ferrel group of people to think this one up, and decide to air their own butt cleaning issues on national TV to gross us out. It’s due to stupid ads like this that I would never buy the product even if it was half the price of anything else.
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The advert certainly borders on the distateful, despite the cute puppy.
Whatever your take on it though, it doesn’t alter the fact that Cottonelle is an inferior product, which I gave up using since it just broke up all the time which to my mind makes it unfit for purpose. It also seems to launch dust fibres into the air when you rip it – not sure I want to breathe in toilet paper dust…..!
Kleenex – spend less on cutsie adverts and more time developing your product.
I am so happy that Quilton ‘loves my bum”……
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@ HA
This guy is a Ferrel individual
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Ferrell
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Tackiest ad of the year
Really bad smell about this one
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I dont like the ad, but I do what I can do in any free democratic society, I ignore it when it comes on.
and @ bear, that is HILARIOUS! I thought the same thing when reading the post by ‘HA’
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I think it is pretty tacky using a cute puppy, Anyhow, Cottonelle isn’t that great! it blocks my toilet! I am sure they could come up with something a little more tasteful than this! How embarrassing…
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This advert is not very smart. I have a young relative who due to an accident is incontinent and wears mens underpants liners and also an older relative who has an age related issue. They are acutely embarrassed when our family dogs are not locked up and do this. There are other examples and I hope Gruen look at this one.
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Amaizing
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No-one has mentioned the actual name of the product innovation – Gripples. As in it has ripples that grip your shit.
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This just in from someone else via email conversation on this topic:
“The thought of someone needing ridged arse-wipes to wrench a clinker off their coit is hilarious. Being outed by a poo-detecting puppy is just icing on the cake.”
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I was one of the individuals that emailed Kleenex as soon as it went to air.
Apart from being offensive, I believe it is false advertising, because the only way a backside would smell better, would be to impregnate the paper with perfumed disinfectant.
Kleenex’s reply to me was that their surveys showed “people love the puppy”
SO!!!!!!!!!
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Have to agree with Denise and Russell above..
Cottonelle is crap – it tears in your hand
I remember using Kleenex as a boy with no problems, but this current version of loo paper from them is simply poor quality.
Very happy with Quilton – doesn’t tear. Stop wasting money on ads Kleenex and make the product better!
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This ad reminded me of every time there was a Royal tour of Australia the Liberals would be pushing each other out of the way to sniff a royal fart!!!!!!!
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If the bureau dismisses complaints as trivial as if to say, (there is nothing wrong with the ad,) then it is quite obvious that the bureau has lowered its moral and ethic standards for what should be described as an indecent advertisement.
E.g., the toilet paper ad I find it is extremely derogatory to the human race as it implies people do not wipe and it takes a dog to sniff the arse and humiliate people that cannot help themselves.
To deaf people the add without sound may certainly depict such an image of an arse sniffing dog…what next will the bureau except…a dog sniffing human genitals because someone having incontinence peed in their pants?
The advertisement puts the dog as the centre of attention, not the toilet paper and this is what makes it so wrong!
A similar carefree-ad depicting women having a discharge in their panties implies women are dirty and should buy liners to keep themselves feeling clean, dry and fresh, because, dirty underwear is a dirty woman.
Is there no dignity no pride left in the female representatives in the “bureau” that could and should put a stop to such derogatory advertisements of people?
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