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Star Participant
An Australian department store chain has released a new version of a commercial starring Katy Perry, cutting out a joke about koalas that struck animal lovers as cruel and clueless.
National retailer Myer is giving away 8,000 tickets for the Australian leg of the pop singer's "Witness" tour next year, and Perry plugged the contest in a commercial. In the ad's final seconds, the camera cut to the singer's teacup poodle, Nugget. In what was apparently intended as a throwaway line to show her excitement about the trip Down Under, Perry quipped, "Let's go chase some koalas, Nugget."
Koalas are a protected species in Australia, dog attacks are among the top threats against them, and the ad inspired exclamation point-laden messages on the chain's Facebook page. Among them: "Myer and Katy Perry need to see the damage dogs do to KOALAS !!!! IF the poor koala survives it has horrific injuries !!! What idiot thought that encouraging dogs to chase Koalas was a good idea !!!" Myer responded to that comment by saying it was removing the line.
The koala comment has been replaced by a new quip from Perry: "OK, Nugget. It's time to get you a puppy passport."
http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/controversial-quip-koalas-cut-katy-perry-ad/309679/
