dogs

Advertising

Pet Focus Group Yields Laughs for Big Lots

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Consumer focus groups have long been a mainstay of marketing research. It’s a great way to gather user perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitude about a product. Chicago ad agency O’Keefe Reinhard & Paul pulled together a panel of mostly four-legged consumers to roll out Big Lots’ line of pet supplies and toys. Two improvisational actors served as panel “facilitators,” conducting a tongue-in-cheek user opinion survey. The panel of dogs and cats weren’t exactly forthcoming in their preferences, but they did give the discount retailer an opportunity to show the vast and varied range of pet products it sells.
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Packaging

Dog-Loving Photographer Creates Asian Elixir, Thanks to Lindsay Lohan

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Kombucha Dog is one of those “only in California live-your-passion” stories. According to the Kombucha Dog website, the beverage company was started in L.A. by Michael Faye, a successful commercial photographer who loved traveling the world on assignment, until he found that the photo business was beginning to require spending more time on the computer than on location. That’s when Faye sold his studio and set up DogIsArt, a dog portraiture business, combining his avid love of dogs with his professional talent.

The kombucha link comes in because Faye, who was raised as a strict vegetarian by a mother who even made her own yogurt, was strongly into the raw food movement and yoga. An early adopter of kombucha, Faye started drinking the fermented tea back in 2005, but had to stop when actress Lindsey Lohan failed an alcohol test. Lohan’s attorneys launched a “kombucha defense” saying that drinking lots of kombucha caused a false positive on the test. The controversy caused L.A. retailers to pull kombucha from the shelves, forcing Faye to experiment with brewing his own.

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Advertising

Pedigree Slow-Mo Focus

By Delphine Hirasuna |

This commercial for Pedigree dog food is beautiful for its pure simplicity. Shot at 1000 frames per second using a Phantom camera, the slow-motion video captures every movement and feature of each dog, from the twitch of the ears, the attentive eyes, the loose tongue, the tensed muscles and flying fur as the dog leaps for the Pedigree treat. The plain studio backdrop and lighting eliminate superfluous environmental distractions, making the dogs the sole point of focus. Viewers can’t help but marvel at what expressive and unique creatures dogs are. TBWA/Toronto made this commercial for Pedigree Petfood Canada, with film direction by Bob Purman of Imported Artists Film Company and sound by Joey Serlin at Vapor Music.