Is this Fair Pet Food Advertising?

A Purina Puppy Chow and Purina Dog Chow commercial tells pet owners "You have the power to extend his healthy years". Learn the whole story and decide if you think this is fair advertising.

First, watch the television commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kImT_HbocQ0&feature=player_embedded

From the Purina website, the Life Span Study was conducted at a Purina Pet Care Center in Gray Summit, MO by a team of scientists between 1987 and 2001. It is the "first completed diet restriction study to encompass the entire life span of a larger mammal."   The 'subjects' were forty-eight Labrador Retriever dogs. The dogs were separated into a control group and a lean-fed group.

It is important to note that all dogs were fed the same diet.  "All dogs consumed the same diets, which were 100 percent nutritionally complete and balanced (first a puppy formula, then an adult formula) -- only the quantity provided was different." The control group of dogs were fed an unlimited amount of food during 15-minute daily feedings for the first three years, after years they were fed the recommended amount for their size. The lean-fed group were fed 75 percent of the amount eaten by it's paired littermate (in the control group). http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/methodology.aspx

The Life Span Study Findings were amazing.  "Treatment for certain health conditions was delayed in the lean-fed Labrador retrievers who received 25% less food than their littermates in the control group. The median age at which 50 percent of the dogs required treatment for certain health conditions was 12.0 years among lean-fed dogs, compared to 9.9 years for the control group."  http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/Findings.aspx

My interpretation of this study is that dogs that are fed less than the recommended amounts (lean-fed) remain healthier. Because all the dogs were fed the same diets, this study does not prove any particular type of pet food could extend a pets life. The Purina website does not state if all the dogs were fed Purina Puppy Chow and/or Purina Dog Chow; the only information provided was that all dogs were fed the same diets.

This Purina research is of benefit to pet owners, no question there. But the question remains, does the television commercial properly explain the Purina study and do pet owners benefit from the Purina research by watching the commercial? Does the Purina commercial imply anything other than what the study actually discovered?   Is this Purina Pet Food commercial fair advertising?

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Truth about Pet Food
Petsumer Report
www.TruthaboutPetFood.com

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Is this Purina Pet Food commercial fair advertising? I don't think so!

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Permalink Reply by Sue & the Crew on August 3, 2010 at 6:24pm

OK, first, no the commercial is not fair advertising because, IMO, all it suggests is that feeding Purina Puppy and Dog Chow will extend the life of your dog. The statement "Research shows" is powerful and used by many, many companies to market their product and society, unfortunately, puts too much trust in the companies.

Second, I read the information on the "research". To me what it suggests is to not overfeed your dog - that lean dogs are less likely to develop certain medical conditions, and live longer. Well, yeah, obesity is linked to a range of health problems all of which can shorten your life, human or dog!

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AdminPermalink Reply by LM Fowler - Admin on August 3, 2010 at 6:44pm

Oh, I know! Every time I see this commercial and other's like it, I just want to scream. It is like a bait and switch deal. Say one thing, mean something else. Tell half truths and give just enough information that someone will think you might know what you are talking about (reminds me of someone - LOL).

Anyway, it is so important that we be the advocate for our dogs, just like we are for our children. How many times have we seen commercials about foods for kids being "fortified" or "enriched?" This means it is not natural, but added to. These large commercial companies care about and only care about making money. Their goal is to pull on our heartstrings, or make us think they are experts, then buy their products.

On face value, it all sounds good, but once we dig a little deeper, as in the study made reference to at Purina, there are other interpretations and Sue, you said it, leaner dogs are healthier dogs no matter what you feed. The thing that bothered me however, is that 9 or 12 or 15 years is not a very long life when you consider 50 years ago dogs lived 18, 20 and longer years. They also ate less kibble (processed), canned (rendered) and other dog products (containing very questionable ingredients).

Most dogs, 50 years ago, caught their dinner or ate scraps from the family. There was no dog food, vaccines, or flea/tick stuff to put on our pets. There was also less, canine cancers, heart conditions, liver and kidney failures and seizure disorders associated with what we put on and in our dogs. And let's not even mention obesity in dogs and people.

Sorry for getting off on a tangent, but I really think that we need to stop believing the pretty commercials and start to really look what is in the products we feed our pets, our children and ourselves.

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Member Since 2009Permalink Reply by Jeannine, Gamine & Thalie on August 3, 2010 at 7:04pm

Of course they took the "best looking" puppy and adult dog in the world... with the doodle!
It is so wrong to use a commercial to lead people into error, it give a misleading message.

As you already said, the study doesn't have anything to do with a special brand but only said that we do feed our pets too much...

Where are the laws to protect consumers.

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Permalink Reply by Sue & the Crew on August 3, 2010 at 7:13pm

All great points and comparisons, especially the dogs of yesteryear that rarely or didn't eat processed or refined foods or foods with questionable ingredients.

Reminds me of that documentary "Super-size me" where the guy ate nothing but McD's for a month straight. How ill he was afterwards. That is just one month of processed foods with questionable ingredients. Imagine an entire (dog) lifetime of eating similar products?

I guess while cheese may be good for you, cheese slices aren't exactly the same, right?