While the ad below didn't appear during the Super Bowl and didn't have puppets or puppies in it, it merits diss-cussion -- and is getting it from people in the adoption community.
Epic fail for adoption-themed Kay Jewelers ad.
How many adoption stereotypes and myths can be crammed into one 30-second commercial?
Kay Jewelers and Stern Advertising perpetuated at least two.
Diss #1: "Just adopt -- it's easy!" Show up at the agency where you've placed your order and have your baby delivered to you, a gorgeous little bundle of certainty! Celebrate your shiny life with shiny things! Because of course after completing your adoption application and homestudy, and after taking on the lifelong responsibility of parenting, you still have money to burn!
Diss #2: "Adoption is shiny -- it's all gain and no loss!" Pay no attention to the trail of devastation left by fertility treatments and the arduous path of an adoption homestudy. Look away from the loss that's just beginning for the woman who just gave birth, her family, the birth father and his family, who are facing immeasurable loss. Let's forever ignore the possibility that the baby herself is experiencing a confusing twist of fate, that everything she's sensed since her brain began developing has just changed, and that the people taking her home mark her experience with their bling.
- "Kay Jewelers, do you plan to design a smashed heart for the mothers who lost their babies ? This ad is extremely insensitive to all parties involved in an adoption."
And this...
"I'd love to meet the marketing geniuses who came up with this one."
If you're going to create an ad around adoption, you'd be well-advised to understand adoption from the viewpoints of those who live it. Otherwise?
-- "I will never shop at Kay Jewelers again."
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