Above, an illustration of the brand repositioning.
Clearly, A+ for execution. I am considering buying a polo shirt for the first time since the nineties, and I find the 150€ price tag reasonable because I like animals, and the little rhinoceros speaks to me (he says "help, there are only 67 of me left!").
I have nothing mean to say about the above campaign, but it does make me think of the exploitation of super cute animals (so, all animals) in advertising. Let's have a little look, and a discussion about the pink unicorn in the room.
NORD DDB created this campaign featuring the doge meme and got a lot of traction in social media, and were even reported to Reklamombudsmannen (RO) for being racist towards Japanese people (due to the origin of the Shiba in connection with the bad grammar) which gave them additional PR. The campaign was finally freed of the allegations. I think the dog is the real star of the ad here but I also find it a bit lazy to take a masterpiece collectively created by "the internet" and lean so heavily on it (see also: Zlatan, Rihanna).
These ads for Pedigree Dentastix were created by BBDO. Seeing as the ads are trying to sell you a healthy snack for dogs, I cannot consider this exploitative. These dogs are trying to get owners to buy snacks that are good for their teeth, and therefore helping all dogs. They are heroes. And because most owners look like their dogs, I think this really works.
According to science, humanoids freak us out because they are not quite human but display human characteristics. That could explain why this Orangina commercial is what nightmares are made of. But also, s/o to Fred&Farid for adding some diversity by using a giraffe, a chameleon, and a goat.
This Nutri Balance ad crafted by Y&R is truly good-looking, and perhaps a bit too premium-feel for dogfood, but my main objection is the messaging here; I would argue that the owners are the bad one's in the story told here, and it seems petty to blame the dogs. Admittedly there is a lot of storytelling in a single image, and the comedy is pretty solid so again, kudos, Y&R.
Is it really an animal if it is a fictional animal? This unicorn promoting toilet products was dreamt up by Harmon Brothers for Squatty Potty, and it is sort of like you let a four-year-old with a magic wand imagine the perfect commercial. Spot on, though, because we all have an inner child princess fairy, and the video has been shared literally millions of times.
Sing It Kitty is the kind of ad that makes people think it is always fun to work in advertising. The Doctor Snuggles-level weirdness going on in this video conjures up an image of people in thoughtfully chose, objectively ugly t-shirts smoking pot and laughing loudly as they write the script. The result is that good. I love this cat. I want to hang out with this cat. This cat has the same effect on me as Nick Kroll, and watching Drunk History.
Obviously, there are several situations when animals are appropriate in advertising.
Obviously, there are several situations when animals are appropriate in advertising.
- If you are marketing an animal-related product
- If you are telling a story, and your story requires the specific carachteristics of the animal
- When the animal makes it funny (but as always, make sure your "funny ad" is actually funny)
