A dog on a leash pulls its master toward a flock of pigeons in an advertisement for asthma medicine. A cat serenely naps on the couch next to a couple of apartment dwellers who are fretting about their home loan application in an ad for a mortgage company. A billboard purchased by a check-cashing company displays two dogs—one large dog (Big Cash) and a much smaller companion dog (Little Cash).
Spuds McKenzie would be proud. The Budweiser Lizards would be amazed, and the Taco Bell Chihuahua might do a little celebration dance. Pets are the new celebrities of marketing.
Basics of Advertising
Let’s look at some basic factors to consider if you design ads or ever need persuasive skills in any way.
Aristotle defined three dimensions of persuasion: ethos (character), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic). While all are important, he gave extra weight to ethos—the specific qualities of character, including knowledge, wisdom, goodwill, similarity, and dynamism. People are more likely to relate to and agree with others they find these characteristics in.
A good, basic crash course on writing an ad in contemporary society will instruct you to include:
- Headline
- Description of Benefits
- Contact Information
- Call to Action
Pets, Pets, Pets
Now, combine that with a noticeable phenomenon: Pets, particularly dogs and cats, are playing increasingly prominent roles in advertising. In fact, during the nirvana of big-budget advertising—the 2012 NFL Super Bowl (not to be confused with the Animal Planet Puppy Bowl that my daughter can’t wait for)—you would have seen:
Volkswagen followed up last year’s popular Vader Kid ad with barking Star Wars dogs and a spot featuring an overweight pup working to get into car-chasing shape. Chevy also featured man’s best friend in its apocalypse-themed commercial. A French Bulldog named Mr. Quigley reportedly replaced Kim Kardashian in its Skechers commercial. Doritos presented a non-cat-friendly vignette, and Subaru showed off a “Dog Friendly, Dog Approved” line of vehicles in its fun contribution to the lineup.
69% of us have pets, and 45% of us have multiple pets. In 2006, our spending on pets had doubled in ten years to exceed $36 billion. If my math is correct, that’s about $120 for every man, woman, and child (300 million) in the United States.
Another article could extol the obvious benefits of entering the dog and cat markets in some way.
Is He Talking to My Dog?
But it goes even further—pets are now often directly addressed in ads.
“…advertisers are now appealing to animals directly with everything from TV spots to billboards to iPad games.”
These ads include spots for Beneful dog food, Bonzo dog treats, the Holiday Hotel for Cats in Los Angeles, and Whiskas. I, for one, shouldn’t be surprised, as my daughter’s favorite series of books, which is also recommended for teens by none other than James Patterson on YouTube, is the Warriors series, set entirely in a universe of talking, socially complex cats.
Why the Influence?
The psychological relief and all-gain-no-pain companionship that house pets like dogs and cats provide are more needed, readily available, and socially accepted than ever before. This shift is due in large part to changes in modern life: it’s more socially distant, more virtual, and more isolated than in the past. Pets have even been attributed with having a positive effect on their owners’ health (Allen, 2003).
The antithesis to gushing over pets would be to argue that they aren’t children. But even that perspective is losing ground. Go on Facebook or ask your neighbor whose kids have grown and moved away, who his “kids” are now. Fluffy and Baxter? Even better—chat with friends who have no children and probably never will. They have a Bichon or two, though, don’t they?
As we connect with other humans more and more through virtual means, we may be doing it less in person. But John Naisbitt’s law of high-tech/high-touch still holds. Dogs and cats help.
Savvy marketers recognize this, and it’s reflected in advertising, which creates similarity and goodwill for their brands.
Let’s Ask Aristotle
The similarity might be obvious: as more Americans own pets, it makes sense to show people who at least have a pet around while they decide on a laxative, suggesting a rapport between the viewer and actor.
Goodwill is an interesting concept. Showing goldfish in an ad won’t necessarily generate the same goodwill as showing a family Pekingese. My Pekingese, Cutie Pie (named by my daughter), would, however. I submit that the ubiquitous movement to protect and enhance the lives of dogs and cats has created an instant association of goodwill simply by displaying a peaceful relationship with one.
So the new basics of an ad would therefore be:
- Headline
- Benefits
- Contact Information
- Call to Action
- Dog or Cat (puppies or kittens if you’re serious)
So, if you apply this interesting new twist on marketing and become a big success with it, tell me: who will be waiting most anxiously for you at the end of the day? Who will be so excited to see you when you get home—despite your shortcomings and petty crimes—that they will need to be told “back!” or “down!” just so you can get through the doorway? Is it any wonder we’re starting to repay the sentiment and get excited when we see them in ads?
