Mars Petcare spotlights canine oral health in Pedigree Dentastix campaign via Colenso BBDO
Mars Petcare has launched a new global campaign for PEDIGREE Dentastix, aimed at raising awareness of dog oral health and encouraging preventative care among pet owners.
Titled “Good Dogs Have Bad Mouth,” the work is built on a simple, powerful idea: making the problem of dog oral health unmissable.
For some pet parents, oral care can be in the maybe later basket – and the signs can be easily missed, with 8 in 10 dogs developing oral care issues. Prevention remains the best way to maintain a dog’s oral and overall health.
Says Meg Jones, Global Strategy Lead, Colenso BBDO: “In many ways pet parents have never done more for their dogs – from dog day spas to treats. In response to this, there’s been a proliferation of health-centered treats in the category. Despite this, one of the most important issues – dogs oral care – may have faded into the background. Given the lengths pet parents go to for their dogs, if they really knew their good dog could have bad mouth, they would do something about it.”
Born out of the insight that if pet parents really knew what was happening in their good dog’s mouth, they’d act, the new campaign shuns complex science or scare tactics, and instead “Bad Mouth” comes to life in a deliberately intriguing, technicolour felt world that captures the fuzzy feeling of an unhealthy mouth to capture pet parents’ attention. Meanwhile in AV we meet two seemingly good dogs who are betrayed by their bad, bad mouths.
Says Kimberley Ragan, Group Creative Director, Colenso BBDO: “Dental issues are often presented in a solely scientific way, which is why it doesn’t always resonate with pet parents. Turning the inside of a dog’s mouth into a fantastical world filled with fuzzy bacterial creatures is how we took this sterile topic to make it something that stops pet parents in their tracks. In AV, we used the attention-grabbing language of ‘Bad Mouth’ to have fun with censorship… because who doesn’t love a good bleep-joke, right?”
Rather than positioning oral care as a chore, the campaign’s playful and entertaining world frames Dentastix™ as a simple daily habit – an easy way to support pet parents as part of an everyday oral care routine for their good dog.
Says Mariana Coronel, European Director, PEDIGREE Brand: “Pedigree’s unique role is to democratize good food that does good for our dogs. This is true of our Dentastix range too. It supports the prevention of oral health issues, as this has an impact on dog’s overall health and wellbeing. Historically our communications have individually spoken to the functional or emotional benefits of Dentastix, but we’ve learnt that we need both to create a sustainable change in pet parent’s habits. Our new communication platform ‘Good Dogs have Bad Mouth’ does both by demystifying oral health issues and being hugely entertaining.”
Built as a scalable global platform, ‘Good Dogs Have Bad Mouth’ launches across OOH, social, digital and AV, with more to come.
Brand: PEDIGREE®️, part of the Mars family of brands
Creative Agency: Colenso BBDO
Partner Agencies: Automated Creative, Hogarth, Mars United Commerce, Publicis, Omnicom / OMC
3D Animation: Scholar
Production Company: Hooves
Director: Peter Martin
Post-Production: Fathom VFX
Music: Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper
Sound: Franklin Rd Music & Sound
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