Letter to the editor of the Chatham Daily News - Dairy Queen Ads

April 24, 2007

I felt it necessary to respond today to the growing outrage over the recent Dairy Queen commercials that depict a young boy being hung from a hook and taunted. As most readers know, ten years ago a similar action resulted in the tragic death of Myles Neuts.

Few of us can fathom the pain experienced by the Neuts family and the level of grief that the commercials would bring to them. The public outcry by the community has been successful in ensuring the commercial is not aired in Southwestern Ontario.

The decision by Dairy Queen to run the commercials outside of Southwestern Ontario is a corporate one and they must live with the negative connotations.

Yours truly,


Dave Van Kesteren, MP
Chatham-Kent-Essex