A new commercial from home supply company RONA is getting backlash from the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada for its disturbing and demeaning depiction of the animal.
In the ad, contractors and construction workers are discussing badly-done work, referring to botched jobs as “half-assed.” A CGI donkey listens in – and this is where the commercial gets weird – the animal only has its head, neck and two back legs. Get the “half-assed” joke? Is it funny? Not so much, say some viewers (including this writer).
When asked by CTV News for her reaction, Janine Holman, executive director at the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada, said, “Actually, quite stunned and horrified … I couldn’t believe my eyes what I was seeing.”