WASHINGTON — GoDaddy pulled its Super Bowl commercial that featured Buddy, the impossibly cute Golden Retriever, after tens of thousands of people expressed outrage on social media.
In the ad, Buddy gets lost and bravely makes it back to his owners. The owners are happy to see Buddy because they’ve just sold him on a website built by GoDaddy. The ad was intended to make fun of Budweiser, which has an ad featuring a puppy.
But GoDaddy’s ad backfired. It prompted a petition calling for its removal. The petition said GoDaddy was “encouraging private breeding/puppy mills while shelter animals wait patiently for their forever homes or worse — to be euthanized. They are also encouraging purchasing an animal online; the animal could be sold to someone who runs a fighting ring, someone who abuses animals, or to someone who cannot adequately care for the animal.”
The petition garnered 42,428 supporters.
People also took to and  to complain about the commercial, which also has been removed from YouTube.
In a message posted on the company website, GoDaddy Chief Executive Officer Blake Irving says the company “underestimated the emotional response ” the ad would have and removed it from the Super Bowl.
Blake went on to say that Buddy came from a reputable breeder and lives with one of the company’s employees.
The company will air another ad during the Super Bowl.
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