A Vote for Good
Mars Petcare
Issue 42 | March 2017
Agency
BBDO New York
Creative Team
CCO Worldwide David Lubars CCO New York Greg Hahn Executive Creative Directors Greg Ketchum Tom Godici Creative Directors Banks Noel Greg Gerstner
Production Team
Head of Production David Rolfe Executive Producer Regina Iannuzzi Executive Music Producer Rani Vaz Production Coordinator Corie Rosenblatt Production Company BBDO Studios Director Win Bates (Crane) Executive Producer Constantine Bjerke (Crane) Music Sound Lounge Audio Glen Landrum Post Production The Beauty Shop Editors Adam Leibowitz Lindsey Nadolski
Other Credits
Account Team Elizabeth Helberg Sally Nathans Planning Team Annemarie Norris Emily Rydin Sean Stogner
Date
November 2016
Background
PEDIGREE®'s 'Feed the Good' campaign was based on the simple, yet universal insight that the lovable innocence of dogs makes us better people. The idea tapped into poignant societal themes, calling attention to the way dogs affected people's attitudes and behaviour for the better, and the role PEDIGREE® played in feeding a dog's good nature.
Idea
As the 2016 Presidential election neared, a polarised political climate brought out the worst in many Americans. Determined to remind people that they have more in common than not, a social experiment called 'A Vote for Good' was conducted.
First, a woman wearing a Hillary shirt was sent to a Trump rally with a "lost" dog. Then she went to a Hillary rally with a Trump shirt. The result was heartwarmingly positive – people on both sides found common ground and helped each other through a mutual concern for dogs. Further proof that dogs bring out the good in us.
Conceived and produced in less than 10 days, a three-minute film was initially shared socially but was aired on CNN and Fox the night before and on the day of the election.
Results
In the first week alone, the film received over 2.6 million views on YouTube and two million views on Facebook, with an astounding 99% of reactions positive. Additionally, the film achieved a 13.3 million reach on CNN, 12.2 million reach on Foxnews, There were 442 earned placements and 124.6m earned impressions.
Our Thoughts
This is classic ‘newsjacking’ - take an event that is already getting plenty of coverage and provide a new and interesting angle to it. That way you get attention without having to pay big bucks to get it.
For me, this is a fascinating example of the massive change that has occurred to advertising. In my youth, all petfood advertising talked about the product – full of rich and meaty goodness. But online no-one is ever going to watch a video about meat. Seriously, they’re not. But they will watch a video about dogs. And people.
And at this time when the Trump presidency is alarming many, a reminder that we are more the same than we are different to each other is genuinely heartening.