Adopt A Shelter Dog!
ByI love this Pedigree Campaign! I’ve worked in shelters before and know how hard it can be to get people to adopt their animals. There is nothing more heartbreaking than seeing an animal stay in the shelter for extended periods of time. I think Pedigree did a great job of choosing a cause that relates to their product. By linking themselves with shelters, their efforts seem legitimate. I honestly believe that the people at Pedigree want to help shelter dogs; that they’re not just using this campaign as a way to boost their sales. Do these ads change the way you guys see shelter animals?
The video I really wanted to put on here isn’t on youtube so I’ve posted the link below. I think the best part of the ad is the tag line “Don’t pity a shelter dog, adopt one”. It speaks to the people watching the TV who might otherwise be moved by the commercial, but ultimately don’t act on their emotions.
I’m not in the market to get a dog at this point in my life, but when I am ready, I know I’ll choose a shelter animal! Way to go Pedigree! wanted to post, but could only find one that would let me show the video on here.
4 Comments
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:52 am
This video broke my heart. At first, it made me feel guilty because the dogs looked helpless but lovable. However, the end of the advertisement changed my opinion about Pedigree for the better. I liked how the topic was simple and portable. “When you buy Pedigree, we make a donation to help shelters”. What an easy message to pass along and elicit word of mouth.
Buying dog food seems a bit generic. When someone buys it, I would assume that many people buy it because of it’s appearance or price and then continue to use the same one. Their virtuous advertisement would makes their products unique and make me want to switch my dog’s brand of food. It would make me feel good knowing that I’m helping Pedigree’s Dog Adoption Drive buy purchasing Pedigree, especially if the nutrients in it were similar to what I had boughten for my dog prior to that.
May 3rd, 2010 at 3:00 am
Alex, I agree with you! I recently had to turn in a project about this campaign and I loved working on it.
The great thing about this campaign is that not only is Pedigree saving the lives of dogs, but they are encouraging consumers to join this cause by visiting the website of the brand and learning how to partake in it. I think that one of their smartest moves was to launch this campaign at the same time that they launched the “Dogs Rule” project, for it dramatically increased the number of viewers as well as the number of potential customers.
As Lee Clow stated in one of the articles for this campaign, “Dog food was missing the emotional high ground…People who have dogs love their dogs. Why wouldn’t you be a brand that loves dogs and have it motivate it everything you do?”. Pedigree was the first in the dog food market, to create campaigns that encourage consumer participation, and I think this is one of its best attributes (besides the fact that they got many people to adopt).
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:09 pm
I totally agree with you, Andrea…launching their Dogs Rule project in tandem with these ads was very intelligent of Pedigree! I’ve watched this ad at least a dozen times now and still find it a bit depressing…do you guys think this has had any negative effects?
PS-sorry the video didn’t show up!
May 3rd, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Wow, that video makes me want to go to the SPCA right now to adopt a dog. I think this ad is extremely virtuous and I admire Pedigree for not throwing out the fancy designer dog to sell its food. I can see how Pedigree is trying to create a real down to earth brand image for themselves with this ad, even the voice of the narrator was very country-esque, all American (it almost felt kind of Blue Bell icecream-esque?) but the only problem I see with this ad is that I don’t think Pedigree connected itself to the message enough. If i was to see this ad quickly on tv I wouldnt remember it as a Pedigree ad.