The Wall Street Journal reports Pedigree, a dog-food brand owned by Mars, is joining the likes of well-known marketers such as Anheuser-Busch InBev and PepsiCo in the Super Bowl ad roundup on Feb. 1. But rather than featuring its product, the pet-food maker will be pushing a cause: pet adoption.
Pedigree, which has never advertised during the big game, says the cause-marketing approach is the way to go. "It’s the right message to send out at this time," John Anton, Pedigree’s director of marketing told WSJ. "More dogs are going to end up in shelters because of home foreclosures. Every time we run this campaign, we see increased sales."
Pedigree says it spends about half its marketing budget on pushing adoption. TNS Media Intelligence says the company spent about $32.2 million on ads in 2007.
As for Pedigree’s Super Bowl ad, viewers shouldn’t expect a sappy ad that tugs on the heartstrings. Instead, the company is going straight for the funny bone. Pedigree’s spot, via TBWA/Chiat/Day, will show what life would be like if the world didn’t have dogs. A string of crazy pets is expected to appear, including an ostrich giving a mailman a hard time. Though the ad won’t show dog food, it will feature the Pedigree brand name, said the story.
