It seemed like a good idea at the time? That's the the best we can come up with for the reasoning behind a sneaker company's controversial advertising campaign, which backfired massively, and forced the company to apologize to dog lovers everywhere.
The idea was logical enough: Pearl Izumi shoes provide such excellent support and function that you'll end up outlasting your trusted canine running companion. However, things went off the rails when the company got a bit hyperbolic by asserting that the shoes are actually a threat to your dog's life, and that you'd better learn how to perform CPR lest ol' Spot dies from exhaustion.
via Google cache
The print ad, above, comes from a Google cache of a Pearl Izumi ad that was featured on Mediabistro's Ads of the World forum after recently getting published in Canadian Running magazine. This YouTube video takes the campaign a step further, giving Pearl Izumi customers a tongue-in-cheek lesson on how to perform doggie CPR:

The video hit YouTube way back in January, but apparently the objections of dog lovers became too much last week after the print ad ran. Pearl Izumi posted this apology to its Facebook page on Thursday:
Post by Pearl Izumi/Running.
Over the past few days, Canadian Running's Facebook page has also been inundated with angry comments from readers taking them to task for ever agreeing to run the rad. One comment reads, "Whats next ... pushing grandmothers off cliffs?"
As always, the lesson here is: Don't mess with animal lovers.
Was this ad campaign really a huge failure, or did dog lovers overreact? Give us your take in the comments.
[via Extra Mustard, Consumerist]
Lead image: Ads of the World via Google cache