Clemenger BBDO launched a new campaign for pet food brand Pedigree entitled “Hearts Aligned” which aims to show the connection between dogs and their owners.
The agency conducted an “experiment” monitoring the heart rate of people and their dogs. While it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that pets helped lower heart rates, the more striking thing about the demonstration is how closely aligned the heart rates of dog and human became when they spent time together.
Obviously the small study’s sample size doesn’t prove anything conclusively, but it does speak to the value of pet ownership and the special bond dog owners have with their best friends.
The spot also gives a glimpse into other aspects of these people’s connections with their dogs, as each of the pets have helped their owners significantly in very personal ways. A man named Glenn says his dog “pretty much means everything to him” and helped him through a rough period of depression and anxiety following an injury at work. Alice, meanwhile, who is deaf, appreciates her service dog for cluing her in to her surroundings, as well as the companionship, and a young girl explains how her dog Jake helped her get over the death of her previous dog.
The campaign launched in Australia last month, but the brand is promoting in the states this week for National Pet Week. To promote sharing of the video on social media, Pedigree is donating a dollar to PetRescue for each time the video is share on Facebook with the “#HeartsAligned” hashtag.
While far from the first time a brand such as Pedigree has explored the myriad ways in which pets benefit people, dog lovers can’t get enough of this kind of thing and we’re sure more than a few aligned hearts will be melted by the online ad.