Tesco “All I want for Christmas is a puppy” message

I thought it was a joke today when a member of the D for Dog forum showed us this “All I want for Christmas is a puppy” message from Tesco.

Seriously Tesco… are you for real?

Previous Christmases have seen some pretty ignorant advertising campaigns. Remember the John Lewis ad showing the poor dog living outside in the snow and the child in the Morrison’s ad shown feeding a dog potentially fatal human Xmas food. Pretty bad but this is surely the most appallingly irresponsible piece of promotional material yet.

The D for Dog forum member sensibly suggests “Will any Facebookers please go to Tesco's page and leave a comment about their irresponsible 'all I want for Christmas is a puppy' advert.”

People are already visiting the Tesco Facebook page to complain. Please do this too, so Tesco know we do not agree with this message.

So far the standard reply from Tesco basically says that they “are not trying to encourage people to buy dogs for Christmas”. They justify the image by saying that “the message is written on a chalkboard to reflect what a small child might write.”

Not good enough Tesco. I am sure small children would write all sorts of irresponsible requests to Santa given half the chance. There is no need for it to be glorified as a cute or good idea.

To counteract this stupidity, remember this much more sensible message.



The famous Dogs Trust slogan "A dog is for life, not just for Christmas", created in 1978, is still as relevant today. The longstanding campaign aims to raise awareness of the consequences of treating dogs as gifts or toys. Every year hundreds of thousands of children plead for the latest fad or top toy on the market, only to discard them a few weeks after Christmas when the novelty wears off. Unfortunately, the same perception is also apparent with dogs. Dogs Trust are continually seeking to change this.

Please tweet @Tesco, post to the Tesco Facebook page, write to Customer Services, Tesco Stores Ltd, New Tesco House, Delamere Road, Cheshunt, EN8 9SL or make a complaint to the ASA regulator for advertising asking for the removal of this inappropriate Christmas message.

Please also share and tweet this far and wide so all dog and animal lovers can do the same. No animal should be treated as a gift, a toy or a temporary amusement.

Update - 15th October 2013

Tesco have been in direct contact with Dogs Trust to apologise for any offence caused. They have stressed they understand the importance of the charity’s iconic slogan “A dog is for life, Not Just for Christmas” which is 35 years old this year.

Tesco have agreed to work with Dogs Trust to rectify the mistake and are currently talking with the charity to determine how they can help promote the Dog is for life message in the run up to Christmas. The full post can be found on the Dogs Trust Facebook page.