Here is the letter I sent this morning.  I thought I would share it with
the fert community.  Anyone should feel free to use any of my phrasing or
wording in their letters if they would like; I have no objection!
 
Dear Verizon Wireless,
 
As a Verizon Wireless customer, I have been quite happy with my
long-distance service.  But as a ferret owner and someone who works in
ferret rescue and education, I was dismayed and appalled by your most
recent commercial that depicts a vicious portrayal of a ferret attacking
a person.
 
Clearly, the writers behind this inaccurate and damaging depiction of
a ferret do not have any knowledge as to how a ferret actually behaves.
I am doubly disappointed that Verizon Wireless chose to make this
commercial and disregard the harm this portrayal can and will do to the
public's perception of the domestic pet ferret.
 
The nationwide community of ferret owners and ferret enthusiasts face
an inordinate amount of discrimination and misunderstanding toward our
gentle little pets.  Although ferrets have been domesticated for
centuries and have long since lost the ability to survive outside
captivity, they are still misconstrued as "wild" or dangerous animals.
This is a misconception that ferret owners fight all the time.  Your
commercial has undone years of hard work in just under thirty seconds.
 
As a Verizon Wireless customer and someone who has worked very hard for
years to address the general public's misconception of ferrets, I cannot
in good conscience keep my Verizon Wireless service if this ad continues
to run.  As a ferret rescue worker, I face ignorance and lack of
education all the time that leads to ferrets being mistreated, abused,
neglected, and abandoned.  To have a company like yourselves perpetuating
that problem through an ad that portrays ferrets so negatively, means
that I as a ferret lover need to sever my relationship with your service
if this ad is not dropped.
 
It may interest you to know that I am also an employee at one of the
Ivy League colleges in Western Massachusetts, Amherst College.  In my
position, I receive frequent phone calls from the parents of incoming
students asking what kind of wireless service they should purchase for
their college-bound son or daughter.  The college has no affiliation
with any particular wireless service, but because I have been so happy
with my service from Verizon Wireless, I have been recommending to them
that they purchase your service.  Since I first viewed your offensive
advertisement, I have stopped recommending your service, and will not do
so again until the ad is dropped and a retraction or apology offered to
the ferret community whose hard work has been set so far back.
 
I am seriously considering canceling my Verizon Wireless service and will
do so if this ad continues to run, as well as encourage friends, family
members, and colleagues to choose another service.
 
I and the rest of the ferret community have been disappointed and angered
by this advertisement.  Ferrets are intelligent, playful, affectionate
creatures that enrich the lives of people who share their homes with
them.  Ferrets that bite or mistrust humans do so out of fear and abuse,
not because it is in their nature to attack or harm people.  There is
nothing accurate or truthful in your advertisement's depiction of
ferrets.  All it does is enforce a general perception of ferrets that has
long been incorrect.
 
I am sure that you and your advertising agency regard this ad as merely a
funny joke, and perhaps you think that the ferret community is taking
this the wrong way and simply needs to see the humor in it.  Before you
dismiss our concerns, consider that we have fought ignorance about
ferrets for years.  Ferrets have been mistreated, abused, and even killed
because people assume they are vicious and dangerous when they are not.
 
This ad may be funny to you, but to millions of ferret owners, it is no
laughing matter.  Please drop this advertisement immediately and offer
the ferret community a well-deserved apology for the harm you have done
to all of our hard work.
 
Heather Wojtowicz
Belchertown, Massachusetts
[Posted in FML issue 3872]