First-World Problems: TV Edition #3 - Blue Buffalo Pet Food

[SifuPhil]

Blue Buffalo pet food - if you read their website and listen to their commercials you'll believe that they're the greatest thing for your pets since catnip and pig's ears.

Is it true, or is it just more marketing magic?



Blue Buffalo gives the impression that they're as concerned for the health of your pets as you are. In fact, in their TV ads the spokeswomen (never a man) refer to their pets as "their little girls" or "their biggest boy" (in the latter, accompanied by her biological son walking next to a massive dog and looking sadly downward). The anthropomorphism exhibited in these commercials is one thing - many people refer to their pets as furry members of the family. But I thought this was taking things a wee bit too far.

My questions about Blue Buffalo don't end there. They've had several recalls of their products over the last few years, and on one consumer affairs site there are 261 comments, with an average satisfaction rating of less than 1-1/2 out of 5 stars. Lots of complaints about diarrhea, kidney problems, even the packaging of a totally different product - Fancy Feast! - in a Blue Buffalo bag.

When representatives of the company were questioned about this last incident, they merely replied "accidents happen".

Oh, really? This is the same company that gives the song and dance about how important your pets are to them? And at their premium price-points, they should be showing a bit more interest in what their customers think.

 

[SeaBreeze]

I already had my dog eating a quality food, so I'm happy about that because feeding him something priced like Blue Buffalo would be a strain on the pocketbook at least. But, my Manx cat is almost 2 years old now, and when we were getting ready to pick him up as a kitten, I was reading labels seriously for a quality cat food. I must say that Blue Buffalo was the best I found as far as ingredients, and he's been on that dry food since day one...doing very well. He does get a tiny bit of canned daily in addition, of a high quality brand with no junk ingredients.

Even the best companies have the occasional recall, it's how they handle it that they should be judged on. I don't go by TV commercials, which are usually over the top, I just go by ingredients. Had a dog die from cancer at a fairly young age when I didn't know better and was feeding the cheap Walmart brand dog food. Once I learned of the horrific ingredients in most commercial dog foods, I decided to upgrade fast. Right know I feed Kirkland brand Chicken and Vegetable that I buy from Costco at a reasonable price for my dog.

Anyhoo, here's more on Blue Buffalo if you're interested. http://petfoodtalk.com/dogfoodreviews/blue-buffalo-dog-food/

 

[That Guy]

Lots of folks make their own pet food or, perhaps as the ancients did . . . throw 'em a bone. But, I for sure ain't goin' near no buffalo that's gone blue.

 

[SifuPhil]

I already had my dog eating a quality food, so I'm happy about that because feeding him something priced like Blue Buffalo would be a strain on the pocketbook at least. But, my Manx cat is almost 2 years old now, and when we were getting ready to pick him up as a kitten, I was reading labels seriously for a quality cat food. I must say that Blue Buffalo was the best I found as far as ingredients, and he's been on that dry food since day one...doing very well. He does get a tiny bit of canned daily in addition, of a high quality brand with no junk ingredients.

I'm glad your Manx is doing well on that diet. Somewhere, sometime in the past I thought I had heard about an exclusively dry diet causing kidney stones? Is that why you also give him some wet food?

Even the best companies have the occasional recall, it's how they handle it that they should be judged on. I don't go by TV commercials, which are usually over the top, I just go by ingredients. Had a dog die from cancer at a fairly young age when I didn't know better and was feeding the cheap Walmart brand dog food. Once I learned of the horrific ingredients in most commercial dog foods, I decided to upgrade fast. Right know I feed Kirkland brand Chicken and Vegetable that I buy from Costco at a reasonable price for my dog.

That's so sad - I guess they don't regulate pet food the same way as human food ... or maybe they do - that's why it's sometimes so bad.

I used to work for the former General Foods, and part of my work was in the pet food division - after working there for a year or so and seeing what was in their Cycle-brand dog food, I wouldn't feed it to a feral rat.

Anyhoo, here's more on Blue Buffalo if you're interested. http://petfoodtalk.com/dogfoodreviews/blue-buffalo-dog-food/

My Spidey-sensors lit right off with this site when I saw they gave a 5-star rating to the product, yet when you look down the list a bit you see it's actually 7.3/10 - certainly above average but not the same impression as 5 stars. They also claim in their header that there are no artificial ingredients - yet when you look at the ingredient list in the sidebar they have a long list of added vitamins, minerals and supplements whose origins are not (and by law do not need to be) specified.

My impression is that Blue Buffalo prides themselves on offering an all-natural product, but I would love to see a full qualitative analysis on the ingredients.

They also mention the 2007 recall but make no note of all the subsequent ones.