Over some fifty years, advertising has become a vital element in our consumer society. It is no longer used simply to promote products, but also to spark trends. Advertisers began using images of dogs very early on, in an effort to please the consumer. In fact, the role of the dog in advertising has grown significantly in the past few decades. What is it about dogs that make them so popular with advertisers?
Dogs were first used as selling points in the early 1900s. Perhaps one of the best known examples is Nipper, the dog shown listening intently to a Pathé-Marconi gramophone with the slogan "His Master's Voice". In this ad, Nipper thinks he hears his dead master's real voice when it is actually just a reproduction. The ad compares Nipper's loyalty to his master to the fidelity of the gramophone: if a dog is unable to tell whether the voice is real, then the gramophone's quality must be excellent! Advertisers for Black and White Whiskey chose two Scottish Terriers for the product's logo, evoking this breed's loyalty to its native land. The larger breeds favored in ads for cars evoke power and safety: a Boxer is used for Kléber tires and a mythical six-legged dog appears in the ad for Agip oil. Big dogs like the Saint Bernard give consumers a feeling of comfort and security, while mutts give ads a humorous tone.
Today, dogs are part of the family. They play with children and keep the elderly company. For these reasons, dogs commonly appear in ads portraying the typical modern family. Dogs complete the picture and create a casual atmosphere.
Unlike the private, introverted cat, the dog is an extrovert. He evokes images of freedom and the great outdoors. In ads, dogs are generally shown inside only if they've made a mess or knocked something over - the perfect situation for advertising household products. These items might include a heavy-duty floor cleaner that eliminates the traces of the puppy's "mistakes" or a new vacuum cleaner guaranteed to remove Fluffy's long hair from the carpet.
Certain breeds, including the Afghan Hound and the Dalmatian, are a symbol of elegance. These breeds appear in ads for Chanel and other cosmetics.
Whether they're shown as real dogs or given human qualities, the dogs in the preceding examples are not the advertiser's target. They are merely marketing tools often adopted at the same time by advertising agencies that may also use the same breeds. This can create harmful trends for a particular breed.
Unlike in many ads targeting humans, dogs are the focal point in ads for pet food. Dogs are the consumers of the products in these ads, at least with the help of their owner. Different brands take different approaches. France's Royal Canin portrays dogs as animals to be respected for what they are. For this reason, its ads feature puppies exploring their surroundings and a German Shepherd running across a field to his owner. This company never uses an anthropomorphic approach. Waltham's ads feature breeders discussing its product and Canigou focuses on the dog's hardiness and energy. Ads for Fido dog food show different breeds who have "tasted and approved" the product. Friskies and Frolic take a humorous approach with skits in which the actors are obviously dogs. These ads appear in all kinds of magazines and especially on television, a better medium for showing the dog in motion.
The advertising scope of veterinary medicines is much more limited. Ads for these products are generally placed only in specialized publications on animals, where they may appear side by side with ads for pet foods. Some ads for veterinary medicines strictly target medical professionals by describing a product's effectiveness and safety. Ads for veterinary medicines are quite rare compared to those for animal care products, including everything from flea powder and worm pills to grooming accessories. These ads appear more widely, sometimes as television commercials. This recent phenomenon shows the growing importance of dogs in our society. These ads commonly use humor, even mockery, to play down the "medical" aspect of the products.
In conclusion, over time dogs have become selling points either because of the qualities they represent or as potential "consumers". Dogs have been used to sell almost everything, not only products designed specifically for them. This has created the risk of media hype, which could make dogs a thing of fashion, regardless of the consequences for dogs in general.
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