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.”
The Puslinch, Ontario-based non-profit sanctuary is currently home to over 100 donkeys and donkey hybrids. Holman accuses the commercial of being demeaning to the equines. “Basically, they’ve taken the donkey and created a disabled creature out of it,” Holman told the news outlet.
The sad-looking CGI donkey hobbles along in the ad, overhearing humans make half-assed jokes, but it ignores the fact that in real life donkeys are intelligent animals and are not the stereotyped “stubborn” creatures of lore. Instead, donkeys are hard-working beasts of burden throughout the world, including in such war-torn places as Gaza. Donkeys (like all equines) can also become victims of abuse at the hands of unkind owners, which is why the sanctuary in Puslinch, and others like it, are an unfortunate necessity.
According to the CTV News article, neither RONA nor Courage Inc., the ad agency who created the spot, commented on the criticism ahead of their deadline. (And for an example of a non-cringey, really cool CGI donkey, check out the Kicking Horse Coffee ad!)
What do you think?
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