"Let's go chase some Koalas"-Katy Perry's inapropriate remark

[Catherine]

Katy Perry is going to be doing a concert tour of Australia, unless it gets cancelled.  She is being sponsored by retail giant Myer and they have done an ad for a free ticket give away. You just have to shop in their store and spend lots of money.
This ad may not work out for them too well. Katy Perry has her dog in the ad and at the end she  say to the dog "Let's go chase some  koalas"

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...4N_114Aodw

People have reacted strongly to the ad and it is being edited to remove the remark. However it has probably done a lot of damage. There is already a problem with Koalas being attacked by dogs. In Queensland 100 koalas a year are hurt by dogs and 75% die from the injuries. So there is a specific problem with dogs and koalas and to make a remark like that is terrible.
It is also terrible that she is thinking about her dog chasing any wildlife. What kind of person even thinks such a thing. She has no respect for her dog or wildlife.

I hope people boycott her concerts and boycott her music. She has a history of disrespecting animals.
Just because you are a "star" doesn't mean you can do terrible things or even joke about doing them.

[LPC]

They would have to pay ME a fortune even to bother to cross the road to listen to her music - and even if the offer were massive, I probably still wouldn't bother. When animals are regarded as playthings (as this lady appears to think) in commercial advertisements, then that, for me, is the unacceptable face of capitalism.

[Catherine]

She has used animals before in her music videos and I do mean used. It was not appropriate.
I hope enough people protest and reject her music so that a strong message is sent to her and any other celebrities who think of using animals disrespectfully.

I thought the ad was bad before she made the koala comment. Big companies need to think before they present an ad to the public. Myers would have been smart to issue some kind of apology for what she said while she was working for them. It would have been a sign that they take the issue seriously.

[LPC]

To be fair, I do wonder whether she uttered these words of her own volition, or whether they were scripted by the company or publicity agency. I suspect that she was speaking "lines" given by a publicity agency. But she still didn't need to agree to do it.

[Catherine]

Good point, was it a script or was she speaking her own words. So, was the ad scripted or improvised?  If it was scripted it was badly written even before the Koala remark. I think the whole thing was improvised, but if not she would have seen the script before she did the ad. She would have known what they wanted her to say.

Would you or I have been willing to say the line about chasing Koalas?
I don't think so. We would have questioned it. She is the star doing an ad for her tour. She could tell them no about a line and they would change it. They are changing it now.

She also has a history with animals in her videos that people are not happy about.
This could be turned into a teaching moment where the ad is used to make a positive comment about protecting Australian animals. She could use her tour to help the animals. I just don't think she will.

[Tobi]

Oh dear....I do kind of feel sorry for her as maybe she meant no harm, but that was a very thoughtless remark to make. She may not have even known about the high percentage of Koala killings by dogs in Queensland. I didn't know that before.

If it was an ad shoot, then it's highly likely the remark was scripted -in which case, had Katy been a little more thoughtful, she could have refused to say that....and obviously didn't, which is not very aware of her!

I have NO idea what her music even sounds like. Missed that one. I only just know what she looks like, having heard of her a few times.

And if she is in the habit of 'using' animals in photo shoots or ads, then that is not good. I can understand her filming with them under strict conditions, and with animals whose welfare is looked after carefully (caretakers present). But the 'cute' factor can often put animals under stress, and yes, it's all for money-making!

I hope she learns something from all this, and doesn't think she's just being picked on, but sees why.

[Catherine]

I don't know what she did or didn't know before she made the commercial. I don't think she is known as an environmentally aware person.

The sponsor may or may not  have thought about the remark before it was made. Now that they are aware of the problem they should be speaking out much stronger. I find their response to be too little, too late.