Is the GoDaddy ad offensive and displays cruelty against animals? You decide (VIDEO)

Super Bowl is just around the corner and with that, come the highly anticipated Super Bowl ads that viewers enjoy during halftime. This year, however, GoDaddy does not have much to laugh at after their ad has been deemed too contentious and has been pulled off the air.

GoDaddy unveiled it's new ad called "Journey Home". In it, we see a little Golden Retriever puppy named Buddy who is lost after falling off a truck. He is seen travelling through rough roads, over train tracks and through rain storms to get back home to his bright red barn.

When he finally arrives, a blond woman is so happy to see Buddy returned. But not because she loves the puppy, "because I just sold you on this website I made with GoDaddy," she tells him.

After the ad was shown on NBC's "Today" show on Tuesday morning, there was a public outcry, including a petition on Change.org, calling for the commercial to be pulled from Super Bowl rotation. On its first day online, the petition garnered over 42,000 signatures.

Watch the GoDaddy ad below:

In announcing the pulling of the commercial, GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving released the following statement:

"This morning we previewed GoDaddy's Super Bowl spot on a popular talk show, and shortly after a controversy started to swirl about Buddy, our puppy, being sold online. The responses were emotional and direct. Many people urged us not to run the ad.

"We've made a tremendous amount of progress over the past two years, advancing the GoDaddy brand as a company that cares a great deal about small business and is in their corner to help them succeed. People increasingly know who we are, what we do and who we do it for. At the end of the day, our purpose at GoDaddy is to help small businesses around the world build a successful online presence. We hoped our ad would increase awareness of that cause. However, we underestimated the emotional response. And we heard that loud and clear.

"The net result? We are pulling the ad from the Super Bowl. You'll still see us in the Big Game this year, and we hope it makes you laugh.

"Finally, rest assured, Buddy came to us from a reputable and loving breeder in California. He's now part of the GoDaddy family as our Chief Companion Officer, and he's been adopted permanently by one of our longtime employees."

The going rate for a Super Bowl ad is nothing to sneeze at: More than $4 million for 30 seconds of air time.

"It's a lot of money, but you have to consider that it's the largest television audience of the entire year," notes AdWeek's James Cooper.