Pedigree’s yellow dog installation in Central Park.
Pedigree has sponsored the Westminster Dog Show for 21 years. This year, they went a step further in their campaign to raise awareness of homeless dogs; they set up the Pedigree DogStore in Times Square to benefit the Pedigree Adoption Drive. For two weeks, the DogStore has been a place for dog lovers to stop in and spend time with, and hopefully adopt, animals from the no-kill animal shelter Animal Haven.
Pedigree also took a cue from Christo and Jeanne-Claude, creating a Central Park art installation of bright yellow dogs in the grey heart of February (above). Each dog has a quote such as “I wish I was home” — beautiful, poignant, clever marketing at its best.
Celebrities such as Kate Walsh who opened the store, and Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler More (founders of Broadway Barks) also add to the allure of the DogStore, as well as Dogs Rule apparel and merchandise. Also, computers are set up where visitors can upload their dogs’ photos into Pedigree’s “Million Dog Mosaic.” Pedigree donates a dollar to the Pedigree Adoption Drive for every photo added. You can upload your own dog’s photo here.
Kate Walsh launches Pedigree’s DogStore with the help of a friend from Animal Haven.
Yay, Pedigree for raising 3.5 million for your adoption drive since you began it in 2005. Yay, for the $10,000 you’re donating to Broadway Barks. And most of all, yay for changing the preconcieved notion that shelter dogs don’t make good pets.
A giant corporation can do more than just sell dog food. With creativity and vision, it can change lives by bringing dogs and owners together. As TBWA\Chiat\Day creative director Chris Adams, who created the campaign with partner Margaret Keene, remarked when he first visited the store, “I think this is the coolest thing we’ve ever done.” I agree, Chris and Margaret, very cool, indeed!
Information:
DogStore
Broadway at 46th St.
NYC
February 7 – 21, 2008
11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore will be there today from 5:00 – 7:00 pm to autograph “Dogs Rule” Merchandise.
Read more about Pedigree’s DogStore campaign in Eleftheria Parpis’s AdWeek article “Must Love Dogs”.
Official “Dogs Rule” T-shirts from Pedigree available here.