A dog that doesn’t bark or need to be walked? WHISKAS creates new breed of dog as part of latest global adoption campaign via Colenso BBDO
The whole world wants a dog. But what people are searching for tells a different story, with search data indicating that people are more frequently looking for dogs that are impossibly low-maintenance. Global pet food brand WHISKAS believes the answer may be a ‘Meowzer’ – a new breed of dog it has created, that’s suspiciously similar to a cat. The new global adoption campaign has been developed by Colenso BBDO.
Says Bianca Malcolm, Whiskas New Zealand: “The amount of searches for ‘lazy dog breeds that can be left alone’ has doubled in the past year, and is predicted to increase another 50% by the end of this year. People are looking for dogs that don’t bark, don’t need to be walked, don’t need to be trained, and are happy for long stretches at home – in other words, they’re looking for a cat.”
Says Kimberley Ragan, group creative director, Colenso BBDO: “We realised the perfect dog already exists. All it needed was a name change. Meet the Meowzer. It’s the perfect dog, for people who can’t really cope with a dog.”
The Meowzer is another way the WHISKAS brand is working towards its global goal of ending pet homelessness. It prevents dogs being returned to shelters due to incompatibility and allows potential pet parents to find their perfect adoptable cat instead.
Says Ragan: “Wherever people are searching for their ideal low-maintenance dog, we’re making sure they meet a Meowzer instead. By intercepting common search terms, the Meowzer is presented as the answer to every ‘impossible’ dog search.”
Based on their digital footprint, users are served short content films created with production partner, BUCK, which reveal the Meowzer to be the perfect answer to their search.
Meanwhile on social, The Meowzer was launched to the world by influencer Elias Weiss Friedman of The Dogist, while popular audio creator Puppysongs created a Meowzer song to kick off #Meowzer on TikTok.
As the campaign rolls out they will be joined by more dog and cat influencers, both with the united goal of helping adopters find the right pet, with all online activity supported by outdoor posters and digital OOH.
@madmax_fluffyroad This dog breed is called a Meowzer. It cleans itself, walks itself, never barks, and you can just leave it at home. Pls adopt a Meowzer (link in bio), but if you already have one use this @puppysongs to create your own Meowzer music video. Love, Geoff #Meowzer @whiskasnz #WHISKAS #ad ♬ Meowzer - Puppysongs
All touchpoints lead adopters to the Meowzer website, which uses a smart matching algorithm to accurately match potential adopters to the right Meowzers for them.
Client: Mars WHISKAS
Agency: Colenso BBDO
Production partners: BUCK and Franklin Rd
Media partner: Essence Mediacom
PR: Porter Novelli
18 Comments
NZ already has, by far, the highest rate of cat ownership of any country in the world. Almost 50% of households already have at least one cat.
As cute, and awards friendly, as this idea is, what on earth is the actual purported problem that it is apparently solving?
Or is the problem ‘the client and agency wanted to win more awards’? In which case, yes, problem solved most likely.
Sweet rant. But it’s pretty clearly trying to solve the issue of cat adoption. The SPCA is full of them.
Don’t know if you can read, but it says GLOBAL.
Now there’s a clever little idea.
Based off the insight of…. what? That people aren’t aware that cats are less effort to own than dogs?
Is there anybody on the planet who doesn’t already know that?
I don’t get what makes this cool?
Solving the problem by telling people they’re less high maintenance than dogs? Is there anyone on the planet – let alone in the most cat loving country in the world – that doesn’t know that already?
I like it. Looks nice.
How good is this.
..people …I think you might find it’s to help sell more…cat food ….made by…. Whiskas who are doing lovely things for cats. Especially abandoned ones.
Most people have decided whether they are dog people or cat people. they probably took a buzzfeed quiz at some point. Not a single person who is a ‘dog person’ is gonna be like “Oh wow” I’ll reconsider based on these factors.
A cat food brand’s target audiences are cat lovers. If this makes cat lovers’ heart sing, then a job well done.
Would love to know where this predicted 50% increase in lazy dog searches was sourced from. A few Google Trend searches of adjacent terms reveals very little, if not a downward trend of global audiences searching for lazy dogs.
This also goes against the uptick in working from home, where understandably, you’d have more time to walk, train, etc.
It troubles me how many people, who obviously work in advertising and comment on this blog, clearly do not understand advertising.
Be noticed. Be memorable. Be liked. Win.
This is PR though, darling. There is no ad here. Just a microsite (no mention of this that I can see on whiskas.com). A bit of influencer strategy, and a half-complete hype tape. It’s released in the hope that the world’s lazier hacks pick it up and broadcast it, and by doing so provide the rest of the hype tape’s content. For future ref; there’s usually an ad, if it’s advertising. Can’t wait to see this idea succinctly conveyed on a billboard, though!
Yes, they are there.
Good insight like the classics ‘be more dog’ campaign but this one is ‘be more snore’.
I like cats.