Below is an exchange between myself and "Chris" of Verizon Ohio.  I've
eliminated Verizon's "we're here to serve you" gobblety-gook.
 
Me:
 
>I am disturbed about your recent television commercial featuring a ferret
>that latches onto a young man's tongue. As a ferret owner, former ferret
>shelter operator and Co-Director of the International Ferret Congress, I
>and others in the ferret community have struggled for years to combat the
>stereotype of ferrets as nasty and dangerous animals.  They are neither.
>
>Ferrets are wonderful, charming and entertaining pets.  Yet they remain
>illegal in several communities, including the state of California and
>New York City. The reason for this is ignorance of the ferret's nature.
>
>Combating stereotypes is a difficult task, and commercials such as yours
>make it even more difficult.
>
>I am a Verizon customer, both for my home phone and my family's cellular
>service.  If this commercial is not pulled and an apology extended to
>the ferret community, I will be forced to cancel my service, and
>recommend that others do so as well.
>
>Thank you for your understanding of and attention to this matter.
 
Chris' first response.  Note it is similar to someone else's response:
 
>Thank you for your comments regarding the Verizon Wireless commercial
>that features the ferret.   You should know that the animal used in the
>commercial is not real -- it is a puppet so every intent  was made to
>respect the rights of the real animals.  The commercial is humorous --
>the ferret comes off a lot smarter than the human who has nothing better
>to do with his time than to tease a ferret.
>
>There was never any intent to demonize ferrets.  In fact, just the
>opposite is true.   Even though the owner of the ferret did something
>very stupid, he is obviously a ferret lover or he would not have one.
>If you notice, the ferret isn't in a cage, he is sitting on top of the
>table with seemingly free range throughout the house.  This guy really
>loves his pet.
>
>Please share this with your ferret loving friends and be assured that we
>had no intention of offending them or any pet lover with the commercial.
 
My response to that:
 
>Chris
>Thank you for your quick response.
>
>I've no doubt that your INTENT is humorous, but you will find that many
>ferret owners will not see it that way.
>
>What you need to understand is the EXTREME amount of prejudice ferrets
>and their owners have faced. "Aren't they vicious?" "Don't they bite?"
>"Aren't you afraid they'll attack your children?" are COMMON comments
>made by people when they talk to someone who owns ferrets.
>
>Ferrets are illegal in New York City because former Mayor Rudy Guliani
>considers them nasty, vicious, dangerous, stinky wild animals, and he
>vetoed a bill passed overwhelming by the city council to legalize them.
>A rare story that a ferret bit a baby's face makes the news nationwide,
>although about 20 people are killed annually by dogs in this country.
>
>The ferret community works HARD to dispel the rumors and correct the
>errors.  Your commercial, though it does not mean to do so, helps to
>reinforce the lies.
>
>Please remove it. You WILL lose business over this.
 
And the relevant part of the response to that:
 
>Rest assured that your comments, along with those of others, have been
>forwarded to our advertising department for review.  You are not alone
>in your negative comments about the commercial. We hope to address this
>issue as soon as possible.
 
They ARE starting to hear us!  Remember folks, follow up the emails and
phone calls (if anyone has been willing to wait on hold long enough!)
with hard copy mail.
 
Linda Iroff
Oberlin OH
[Posted in FML issue 3874]