Domino’s Day Off, Pedigree’s Child Replacement Program: The Top 5 Ads Of The Week

As brand advocacy goes, or at least branding with a positive message, the standard bearer must be Dove’s ongoing “Real Beauty” campaign, which kicked off in 2004. But dog food brand Pedigree is a strong contender, with global ads and campaigns that have consistently advocated for, while raising both awareness and funds, for dog adoption since 2007. To date, the Pedigree Foundation has awarded more than $5 million through more than 4,000 grants to shelters and rescue organizations throughout the U.S. alone.

Chris Mondzelewski, vice president of marketing for Pedigree parent company, Mars Petcare U.S. told me in 2015 it all stems from a fundamental belief that dogs do an enormous amount of good for society. “We have studies that show this statistically, so if we do good for dogs, obviously through the food we’re providing, but also through the shelter work, that it will resonate with our consumers,” said Mondzelewski. “If they see us doing that, we become a brand with a mission they want to buy into as well.”

That work continues this week in New Zealand with a funny new campaign with purpose–matching empty nester parents with real shelter dogs available throughout the country. Chuckles for a good cause? Win-win. Onward!

Domino’s “Home For Pizza”

What: New Domino’s campaign illustrates the prowess of its pizza tracker by recreating scenes from classic ’80s flick Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, because why not?
Who: Domino’s, Crispin Porter+Bogusky
Why We Care: Stranger Things‘ Joe Keery picks things up where Matthew Broderick left off 31 years ago, and Domino’s made the spots under license from Paramount Pictures, so there’s a pretty impressive attention to detail here–from a certain Red Wings jersey, to the red Audi, to the pink playground trampoline girl, to the Bueller’s original house. As with life, pizza moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop to conveniently order it once in a while, you could miss it.

Pedigree “Treehouse”

What: New campaign from Pedigree in New Zealand performs a public service for empty nesters, with a new site that matches your prospective canine adoption with your outgoing offspring.
Who: Pedigree, Colenso BBDO
Why We Care: Honestly, anything creative to get people adopting orphan dogs is reason enough. But getting cheeky about all our special little snowflake assumptions of how our parents see us put this one over the top.

Leroy Merlin “Life’s Adventure”

What: An aquatic new ad from French home improvement retailer Leroy Merlin.
Who: Leroy Merlin, BETC Paris
Why We Care: Quick quiz. Leroy Merlin: French home improvement retailer or Detroit-based wizard? Leave it to the French to make house painting an epic romantic journey across the ocean. It’s like a yuppie version of Up.

Telia “Cats”

What: A reality check for Internet cat lovers from Swedish telecom company Telia.
Who: Telia, Forsman & Bodenfors
Why We Care: Hey, we like Maru as much as the next human person with emotions, but it doesn’t mean you should go running out to buy a cat, just because you love you some feline LULZ.

Adobe “The Heist”

What: A new Adobe ad that shows how technology can benefit everyone, except, y’know, bank robbers.
Who: Adobe, Goodby Silverstein & Partners
Why We Care: For all technology’s wonders, there are a few plot devices it just kills. Like how Psycho would probably never happen because The Bates Motel’s TripAdvisor rating would be abysmal and no one would stay there. Here we see incredibly helpful customer service tech foil a bank robbery, and it’s a fun, well-acted, perfectly-cast product demo.