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A Rabbit is Not a Christmas Gift

Terrible advertising.....but I need to admit that my Kermit was a Christmas Gift from my OH! He created a monster (in me) when I got that lad, I am obsessed!
 
Yeah no animal should be advertised as a gift in a magazine or anything. But I do think animals can be gifts if it's for all the right reasons and if research has been done, it's a planned thing rather than a whim, if the person receiving the animal really wants it and has expressed that before, etc. Growing up my parents often got me and my siblings animals as christmas/birthday/easter etc presents.

But the general public is usually not going to give animals as gifts for the right reasons. Animal people will understand when it's appropriate but the general public won't.:( so a stupid thought for whoever thought it was a good idea to put in that magazine.
 
Is the magazine article itself about giving animals as gifts or about buying gifts for the animals you already have?

I haven't seen the article but I think what Sue is saying is that the magazine is advertising gifts for pets so if that's correct I'd say that, while the cover itself looks a little misleading taken out of context, the magazine isn't actually promoting pets as gifts so I don't see a problem.

It would have been worse I guess if it was a cute baby rabbit peeping out of a gift-wrapped box with a bow but this looks an older rabbit that's already an existing pet to me?

Of course, if it was all about finding the perfect pet to give as a present then I take back all of the above..... :oops::lol:
 
I can't find and read the article so don't know what it is all about; therefore agree with KarenM.
 
Well the RWAF have said they will contact the Newspaper as they, the RWAF, do not feel the photo is appropriate. Whilst the feature does not suggest buying a Rabbit as a Xmas present the front page of the feature, as shown in the photo in my OP, could easily be interpreted as just that. Perhaps that's why they didn't use a cutsie Puppy and 'only' a Rabbit.

I have been around too long not to believe that some people wont look at the photo and think that a baby Bunny would be the perfect gift for little Portia or little Horatio-Fitzroy !

I feel perfectly happy about highlighting the issue to the RWAF :)
 
I do agree as I already said - the photo on its own along with the headline is a bit misleading and there's no harm at all in anybody contacting the RWAF about anything that concerns them.

At least the general public reading the mag will have the benefit of being able to go on to actually read the article (rather than viewing the photo in isolation here & making a snap judgement as we were doing) because my first reaction was "What an awful message to send out" but, had I been able to see the article, then the photo would have made much more sense iyswim.

I still do think the photo itself could have been worse - it could have been a cute baby bunny rather than an adult, wearing a huge bow or peeping out of a gift box. I guess they could have made it clearer by having the girl holding out a little present in front of the rabbit but they probably didn't think it through in that much detail. (And it most likely would have been a huge carrot or a bag of yoghurt treats or something equally awful....... :lol::lol:)
 
I do agree as I already said - the photo on its own along with the headline is a bit misleading and there's no harm at all in anybody contacting the RWAF about anything that concerns them.

At least the general public reading the mag will have the benefit of being able to go on to actually read the article (rather than viewing the photo in isolation here & making a snap judgement as we were doing) because my first reaction was "What an awful message to send out" but, had I been able to see the article, then the photo would have made much more sense iyswim.

I still do think the photo itself could have been worse - it could have been a cute baby bunny rather than an adult, wearing a huge bow or peeping out of a gift box. I guess they could have made it clearer by having the girl holding out a little present in front of the rabbit but they probably didn't think it through in that much detail.

Hopefully they will do in any future use of Rabbits or any other animal :)
 
I think we overreact on here.surely this is promoting rabbit welfare and so its appropriate to use a rabbit in the photo.
Its an adult rabbit, on the ground, not being touched by the child. I think it's a nice photo.
 
It's always weird to see other rabbits that look like yours, especially when they do not look happy! That looks like one grumpy bunny, I hope they got to go back to a nice, calm home after.

I don't think advertising rabbits as gifts was their intent; however, I also think that is how it comes across as, at least to us. It's a tricky thing, using rabbits in adverts; mostly I think they're there to set an 'atmosphere' or just a general feeling, but some people will still look at it and think 'oh let's get a rabbit' in a particularly stupid way.

When is it appropriate to show adverts with rabbits, aside from information and such about their welfare? Do you remember that advert for that hotel chain with the bunnies on the bed? Last years Barry M's Christmas advert? Do they send an okay message? I mean, other than the rabbits themselves being okay being on a film/photography set, which could be very stressful.
 
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