CBC won't air SPCA ad that equates children with pets

Porkpie Hat Advertising, Toronto has done an attention grabbing campaign for the Nova Scotia SPCA, urging people to think before they adopt pets by using children as spokesmodels. The children ask questions like: "I cry at night. Will you have me put down?", another billboard reads "My parents are allergic to me. Can I come live with you?". You can view the commercial from the campaign at Porkpie Hat.ca.

The Herald reports:

But CBC management says the "shock value" in them violates the public broadcaster's policy on advertising standards.
It recently e-mailed Porkpie Hat a note saying management rejected the SPCA commercials, though other networks have agreed to use them.

"In equating pets with children, the message expresses a point of view that some people would find very disturbing," the CBC's e-mail says. It says ads accepted by the CBC must meet the network's policy on standards of taste, and not "demand audience attention through use of shock value."