Volkswagen has been forced to defend its latest advert for its Polo supermini, after complaints that a singing dog features in the advert had been abused.
The dog is shown shaking and whimpering the lyrics to the Spencer Davies Groups' 'I'm a Man' while in public, but it later happily sings along to the song while a passenger in the Polo. The advert is called Polo Confidence.
The RSPCA has announced that it is to investigate the advert after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 286 complaints from viewers concerned that the dog had been mistreated while filming the advert.
The advert is featured on MotorTorque and has received over 4,000 page views in one week. Several MotorTorque readers have
voiced their concern that the dog was mistreated during the filming of the advert.
VW says that no animals were harmed in the making of the advert, and that the two dogs used were highly trained.
'The dogs are highly trained. They can do almost anything. They can shake if they are happy or excited - they were not scared.
'There is a fantasy element to the advert. We would hope that just as when people see the dog singing, they know it's not real, when they see it shaking, they know it is not really scared.'
An RSPCA spokesman said that regardless of how the animals were treated, the dog should wear a seatbelt while in the car and should travel in the rear.