Yes, you read that correctly, marketing to dogs.
Nestle Purina releases commerical aimed at dogs.
First, children were marketed to, directly, in what has become an often overwhelming and overwhemingly successful
attempt to separate parents from their money, and now pets!
It's interesting to me for a few reasons.
One, companies are considering the idea that directly marketing to dogs is a good idea.
Philisophically, Anthromorphism, for one. But, aside from that, if pets can be successfully marketed to,
if they have that level of intelligence (and personally, I think Buddy is too smart to be persuaded by a Beneful commercial), it
raises anew the question of pet's rights.
Two, companies are recognizing that for good, or for bad, it is a trend that people are seeing, and treating, their
pets as children. Sometimes instead of human children, sometimes as replacement for human children, once the human children have grown up and moved out, and sometimes in addition to a small family of one or two human children.
Given that, why not market directly to dogs? Marketing directly to human children has certainly worked well,
for the marketers, hasn't it?
Three, Austria. Austria? What about Austria makes Purina thinks this type of marketing will be successful there? What does
Purina know about Austria, that I don't?
It's interesting, and possibly clever, because if nothing else, Purina is going to generate publicity
from this, whether they actually think marketing to dogs is a good idea or if they're just trying another angle
to get the attention of pet parents (which is my guess).
That said, I don't endorse Purina products. Aside from the fact that they
manufacture The Cat's favorite treats, which I buy by the case, I don't think their other products offer a good value and
I don't purchase or recommend them.
Not even if my pets start watching TV, and begging for them...
Really though, it's nothing we pet parents/owners need to be concerned about, that is, not until Smell O'Vision becomes a reality.
