Update:
We received the following statement from tank waters:
The True Story Behind the Tank Cat Commercial
This has reference to the latest Tank Filters TV Commercial, which featured two cats in a water tank, giving the impression to some of the viewers that the cats were abused and drowned.
It is a fact that this did not happen by any means, as Tank clarifies below:
Tank confirms that the two cats were not abused, mistreated in any way, nor drowned or risked their lives for the making of this Commercial:
- The water tank in the Commercial was empty and not filled with water. A young man was standing in the empty tank holding the cat with one hand pushing her up and down. The water splashing effect was done by the same man in the tank from a small hanging water bucket.
- The young man in the water tank gave the first cat a push to get out of the water tank, while the second cat filmed getting out of the tank was edited and merged in with the first frame. The footage shows clearly how the second cat gets out safely out of the water tank.
- Sound effects were added to make the fight sounds between the two cats and edited into the Commercial as the two cats were never in the tank together. Each cat was filmed separately.
- None of the cats drowned in the tank as the water tank was empty and the cats were always held by the young man responsible. The cats’ fur was damped with little water by hand to give the wet effect against the set’s lightning.
- Each frame was shot separately for the Commercial: Water Splashing from the tank – Cat1 getting out of the tank – Cat 2 getting out of the tank; the frames were then edited together to appear as one full frame.
Having clarified the making of the Commercial, Tank confirms that it did not mean any harm with the Commercial to any of its Viewers.
Tank also confirms its steadfast belief in its strict human work ethics and it mission to provide for the Egyptian Family’s Health. Tank ensures that any of its Advertising ideas never harms or violates the Environment or any Living Being.
Now back to the original article…
So, it’s 2019 and some marketing teams still can’t think of a better way to advertise than to abuse and kill innocent animals…
A couple of days ago, water filters selling company Tank Water released a new ad campaign called “Yekfek Shar El Mest5aby Fe El-Maya“. The ad video the company released got people attacking and accusing them of animal abuse.
And, RIGHTFULLY so…
The ad video featured two cats drowning in a big water tank as part of their “message” that water tanks are not clean so people need filters.
Obviously, the cruel nature of the video triggered a strong backlash from people against the company. So instead of addressing people’s concerns, or, I don’t know… ADMITTING to their mistake, they removed the ad and replaced it with another, animal-free ad.
So, let’s recap the content of this video, shall we?
At the beginning of the video, we hear the sound of a cat (who appears to be of a grey color) struggling to get out of the tank.
Then the cat falls back into the tank. We hear its continuous struggle, then see another cat (of a light brown color) jumping out of the tank.
So unless there is color-changing chlorine in that tank, it appears as if they changed the cats.
Why exactly? We are not sure.
People’s Reactions
Like we previously mentioned, upon the release of that video, people were, to say the least, furious.
Even after Tank Water replaced the ad with another, people took it to the comments section of the new ad to attack the company for the old video.
Some accusing them of killing the first cat.
Displaying the absolute absence of mercy…
Some were threatening of exposing them and taking legal action against them.
They even started a boycotting hashtag against the company.
Tank Water’s response
The company tried to respond to some of the angry comments. But they honestly only made it worse.
First, they claimed, it was “graphics”…
Of course, that justification backfired in their faces.
When that didn’t work, they had to go for vague answers to calm people down, like saying they will clarify everything “soon“.
Soon when?
And when people straight out asked about the first cat they replaced, they didn’t actually say that it is still alive.
Hmm, I thought it was “graphics”?
So needless to say if by some miracle anyone actually wanted to support or defend Tank Water, after seeing the way they defended themselves, I am pretty sure no one will.
It is not just horrifying that someone thought it was okay to abuse an innocent cat for the sake of advertising. I have to say it’s even more appalling that an entire marketing team, no, an entire company thought this was a “good idea” and just went for it.
I mean, let’s assume that it’s an animal-hating company, did no one, at any point during this process stop to say ‘You know I don’t think people will like this very much’. Seeing how cats are living creatures and all, not props.
