It is significant how consumers are drawn to animals in advertising. An image or commercial of any animal, from kittens to dogs to even elephants do in fact spark a real emotion in many humans. Animals such as cats and dogs provide a great deal of psychological release that intensifies feelings. Marketing experts play on this, and many animal-loving consumers feel at ease listening to the many selling points of animal-centered ads.
Spotify Gets Into Pet Adoption After Learning Dogs Have Their Own Musical Tastes.
1. Emotional and Physical Attraction
There is much research that shows pet ownership alone has a variety of health benefits, such as the reduction of stress and the lowering of blood pressure, and marketing professionals understand this. They also understand that it is scientifically proven that human emotional connection to animals doesn’t stop with actual ownership. Looking at animals in commercials also invoke an emotional, connected response to animals, and when they are used to help sell a product, the brain makes a connection.
Budweiser is well-known for using pets in its commercials because they know its videos will go viral and that will increase their brand-awareness.
2. Symbolism
Animal commercials and advertisements are not all about cute little puppies and kittens. Depending on the product or service a company is selling, they may use a variety of animals that represent their message. As dogs represent loyalty, human interaction, and family, the lion represents courage and strength, the wolf symbolizes leadership, and the horse stands for freedom. Companies and organizations research the type of animal to use in their advertisements to target a specific audience and, before this, they acknowledge what their product stands for as well.
3. Humor
Animals can be quite humorous, can’t they? In many cases, their cuteness and comedic effect is more so than their human counterparts. This is why commercials with animals doing funny things hold our attention. Laughter is the best medicine, and feel-good marketing can be the ticket to anyone purchasing their product or service. Being very effective as a selling tool, hilarious endorsements catch viewers’ attention and keep them thinking about what they viewed.
Purina uses a cute puppy and some humor to promote Puppy Chow.
The video got viral with over 18M views.
More and more people are finding pet ownership and companionship to be a source of pure joy and peace. It definitely makes sense for companies to use pets and other animals either as the main “character” or somehow involved in the commercial. Some companies use animals as their actual logo or “spokesperson” – just think of the Geico Gecko! He’s a cutie, isn’t he?