Creative Corner: a nod to our furry friends

We’re over halfway through the month already, and after a frenzy of campaign launches around the Super Bowl and Valentine's, it feels like everyone has hunkered down for a bit of R’n’R on the creative front.

And to be honest, I don’t blame them; this year, it has felt like I’ve barely stopped for breath. When I’m feeling all ‘creatived-out’ I tend to take the dog out for walk, so this week I’ve turned to our furry friends for a bit of inspiration. 

Read on for dog twinning with humans, a Netflix partnership with Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and a little bit of kindness from Elmo (I know he’s a puppet but he’s furry so that counts in my book).

They say pets resemble their owners…

Or so the old adage goes. It has also been said that I resemble my golden doodle to be fair – and it’s that premise that My Dog Twin in South Korea has comically latched on to when pairing shelter dogs with new owners.

The brainchild of agency Cheil Worldwide and ‘King ddangkong’ a shelter dog character famous on YouTube in South Korea, My Dog Twin uses AI to match the physical and personality characteristics of potential owners with their canine equivalents.

After simply uploading a selfie, the website scours hundreds of potential matches, looking at facial features, expressions and even pose angles. While round cheeks may match you with fluffy jowls, a thoughtful expression may serve up a calm senior dog. The results provide detailed information such as the name, age, and characteristics, along with a similarity score and why you are the perfect match for your soon-to-be furry friend. Just one click will take you through to the adoption page.

With AI being much maligned as a cause of division, this is a lovely example of how, if applied for good, it can create ‘petfect’ harmony.

It’s streaming cat and dogs

Sadly, this time of year some pets tend to be shown the door by their owners as the reality of looking after their Christmas gift kicks in – and it’s the animal shelters that bear the brunt.

Battersea Dogs and Cats Home is perhaps the most famous animal welfare charity in the UK with many a celebrity ambassador supporting its cause, so it’s fitting that it has teamed up with Netflix to help find new homes for furry friends.

The campaign is designed to highlight the time and energy Battersea invests in getting to know the dogs and cats in its care as it searches for their perfect home.

Taking advantage of Netflix’s new Pause Ads format, the campaign taps into the personalities of their homeless, yet lovable, dogs and cats to match them with the genre of content being viewed. So, if you pause a comedy show a cheeky pup may pop up on your screen, a paused adventure may serve up a playful cat or if you love a bit of edge of your seat action, you’ll be matched with a dog who loves a bit of edge of your seat action too – Wiley in this case.

It could be argued that viewers’ attention will be elsewhere if they are pausing a show however, if anything can avert their gaze before they re-press play, the longing look of a cute canine can.

You big softie

OK, this is a bit of a cheat as this next creative does not strictly feature a four-legged friend, but the star is soft and furry, so I’m sticking with it.

Following on from his Super Bowl appearance, Sesame Street favourite, Elmo, returns in another take for On, the Swiss sportswear brand.

Playing to Elmo’s kind persona, the campaign promotes the virtues of running and fitness for the ‘soft wins’ not just striving for intense perfection.

“Elmo likes SOFT. Could that win?’ he asks a group of runners who look fit to drop from over-exertion.

The Soft campaign promotes On’s Cloudsurfer 2 running shoe and joins Asics - and more latterly Adidas and its ‘You Got This’ campaign - in embracing kindness and compassion in sport. It leaves Nike as an outlier on pushing pure performance and hard-nosed winning.

A Sesame Street spokesperson speaking on behalf of Elmo said: “We’re thrilled to be part of On’s campaign that encourages runners of all types to try their best, support each other and celebrate everyday joys.”

In the words of the great soft one; ‘Come and Play. Everything’s A-OK.’ Cheers to that Elmo.

Well, that’s it for another week!

As ever, if you’re launching something that deserves a spot in Creative Corner, or have seen a campaign you just love, please do share it with us. Email paul.lucas@fanclubpr.com

Image credits: Cheil Worldwide 'King ddangkong' campaign, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home campaign and On's work with Elmo and Roger Federer.