Telecom provider Vodafone has come under fire in India for an advert featuring a pug chasing a bus to deliver a tie to its owner.
The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) sent a legal notice to Vodafone and production house Nirvana Films in May saying that forcing the dog to run amounted to cruelty.
The board wanted Vodafone to cut out the part of the advertisement showing the pug and threatened to take legal action against the company if the advert was not withdrawn.
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“Performing animals should not be subjected to any cruelty, failing which the AWBI will initiate legal proceedings under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960,” said AWBI lawyer SR Sundaram.
The Bombay High Court stayed the notice issued by the AWBI and admitted a petition filed by Vodafone Essar and Nirvana. The companies said the advertisement was shot in South Africa and that pre-shoot and post-shoot permission from a veterinarian had been obtained.
Nirvana Films’ lawyer Balshankar Menon said an application had been submitted in March seeking the AWBI’s approval of the advertisement, saying that the male pug called Rocky was Vodafone’s brand icon. Menon said Nirvana submitted a “post-shoot fitness certificate duly signed by the veterinary doctor” while applying for the no-objection certificate.
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