A new minute-and-a-half long commercial for Chevrolet grabs the viewer’s heart and stomps on it a few times with the story of a young woman and her childhood pet going through life together as best friends and making their final trip to the veterinarian. It’s a beautifully-made ad, currently going viral. But is it real?

It’s a real video, of course, posted by the production company on their Youtube and Vimeo pages. Here’s the thing, though: it’s not on Chevy’s Twitter or Facebook accounts, where they would normally post new ads. It isn’t on the Chevrolet YouTube channel, either. We checked Chevrolet Canada, too, since the production company is based in Vancouver. No Maddie. That leaves us with the theory that it was either commissioned by GM but never used, or created by the agency specifically so pet lovers online would share it.

Anyone who has ever euthanized a beloved pet doesn’t want to associate that moment with shopping for a new car.

Perhaps all this time, The Herd Films has really been shilling for Big Golden Retriever.

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