Put yourself in your pet’s shoes and you can get a leg up on your dog, cat or other animal kingdom companion’s health and wellness. That’s the premise of the “It’s What We’d Want If We Were Pets” campaign for Petco devised by Droga5 New York.
This hero film in the campaign, “Cocktail Party,” positions Petco as the health and wellness company for pets. Directed by Harold Einstein of production house Dummy, the piece has people personifying pets. They discuss their greater wants and needs and the Petco offerings that help them achieve the same level of care that you’d expect for yourself. The absurdity comes from thinking you’re watching a man or a woman talking about their needs–until you realize that you haven’t been watching a human. You’ve been watching and listening to a dog, a cat or a fish. And when that moment hits, everything that came before it becomes funny. Laughter after all can also help one maintain health and wellness.
Credits
Client Petco Agency Droga5 NY Tim Gordon, Felix Richter, co-chief creative officers; Scott Bell, executive creative director; George McQueen, Tom McQueen, creative directors; Bernardo Gonzalez, associate creative director; Chase Kimball, sr. copywriter; Jesse Brown, sr. art director; Tasha Cronin, director of interactive production; Craig Wong, group experience design director; Rich Greco, executive design director; Jeremy Zerbe, sr. design content writer; Daniel Seong, Adrian Koenigsberg, designers; Dave Stephenson, executive producer, film; Lindsay Squires, associate producer; Michael Ladman, sr. music supervisor; George Bennett, head of experience strategy; Sarah Garman, Tom Haslow, group strategy directors; Kaveri Guatam, strategy director. Production Company Dummy Harold Einstein, director; Michael Kanter, exec producer. Editorial Arcade Dave Anderson, editor; Sila Soyer, partner/exec producer; Ellen Lavery, producer. Postproduction The Mill John Leonti, VFX supervisor; Anastasia Von Rahl, exec producer. Color Company 3 Tim Masick, colorist. Animal Safety American Human Society Aiesha Colvin; animal safety representative; Susan H. Jackson, sr. advisor. Music Found Objects Track Title: “Classy Affair”; Trevor Gureckis, Jay Wadley, exec creative directors; Ben Marshall, creative director; Adam Weiss, creative; Jennie Armon, exec producer; Matt Nelson, head of production; Katt Matt, Nick Chomowicz, producers; Agatha Lee, associate music producer. Audio Post Heard City Evan Mangiamele, mixer
Continuing their partnership to combat the mental health crisis among America’s youth, the Ad Council and McCann New York have released the latest installment of the “Sound It Out” campaign which focuses on helping parents and caregivers have meaningful conversations with their kids about emotional wellbeing.
The new work, “Listening is a Form of Love,” focuses on the important role parents and caregivers play in supporting young people’s emotional wellbeing and is supported by new data from Surgo Health’s Youth Mental Health Tracker. The survey highlights that: 55% of youth (ages 10-24) report mental health struggles; and one in five youth report symptoms of depression, and one in four report symptoms of anxiety.
The film includes an interactive digital experience that invites parents to practice “holding space” by pressing the space bar to listen to kids sharing what they wish their parents could hear, in their own words. Along with this literal interpretation of the active listening the campaign encourages, the website also gives valuable tools to help parents and caregivers be better listeners, and in turn, better support their kids.
There is also this 60-second PSA--directed by Alex Fischman Cardenas via Greenpoint Pictures--which underscores the power and importance of listening to your loved ones.
