Pit Bulls Against McDonald’s: Two Other Pulled McDonald Ads

McDonald's has apologized, as well as pulled an advertisement that has animal lovers up in arms.

The fast food chain was running a radio ad that said eating their Chicken McBite's was less risky than petting a stray pit bull, shaving your head, naming your son Sue or giving your friends your Facebook password. The radio ad ran in the Kansas City area for a few days until people started barking their complaints.

Pit bull owners and pit bull supporters that were enraged over the advertising started a campaign via social media sites. McDonald's subsequently supplied a toll-free number that people could call, which supplied a recorded apology.

Upon calling the number provided, the recording acknowledges that the local radio ad was insensitive. We apologize, said the recorded voice, We will do a better job next time.

Spokesman for McDonald's Corp., Ashlee Yingling, quoted from the recorded apology Monday, stating It's never our intent to offend anyone with how we communicate news about McDonald's.

The Facebook group, Pit Bulls Against McDonald's has over 9,000 likes. Owners of pit bulls have been posting pictures of their beloved pets with signs stating things like, Hey McDonald's, my pit bulls are rescued strays! Hey McDonald's, You owe us an apology, All pit bulls are made of love and wet kisses...who knows what McDonald's food is made of! and Hey McDonald's, We used to feed our stray pit bulls your chicken nuggets. Now we know that is not safe...for them. So far 398 pit bull owners have posted pictures of their pets on the site.

The Facebook page hopes that McDonald's will donate to local pit bull rescues. We also believe that McDonald's should donate to local pit bull rescues who battle this kind of hate every single day, trying to save the breed they love, said the mission statement of the Pit Bulls Against McDonald's Facebook page.

This isn't the first advertisement that McDonald's has had to pull. In 2011, the fast food chain ran 1,000 posters for their iced coffee on trains in New York that read, To not falling asleep and ending up in Far Rockaway. (Unless, of course, you live there.) City Councilman James Sanders complained about the ad, as well as banned Ronald McDonald from the peninsula. Unless he decides to ride the A train and stop off in Far Rockaway, said the City Councilman. McDonald's pulled the ads after Councilman Sanders complaint, and issued an apology saying, The goal was to position McDonald's iced coffee as a solution to instead stay awake. We never meant to disparage Far Rockaway or those who live there.

McDonald's in the Philippines were also faced with taking down a television advertisement in 2011. The Catholic Church pressured the chain to pull the ad of an eight-year old-girl asking an eight-year-old boy to be her boyfriend. The boy in the ad is not interested in being her boyfriend until she sways him with the offer of getting some McDonald's French fries. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines were outraged that McDonald's would have a video with two children showing affection for each other. McDonald's immediately took it down.