Getting people to take home puppies should be easy, right? They’re cute, they’re fluffy, and they look at you with the most heartwrenchingly doleful eyes ever.

But it’s not.

According to the Drum, “less than 40% of people in the U.S. and 30% percent of people in the UK actually adopt after considering a shelter dog.” In a new campaign created by BBDO New York, Pedigree seeks to address the assumption that a dog is at the shelter because it has behavioral problems.

Fabio Alings, global brand director of Pedigree, relates:

“Helping homeless dogs find their forever homes is central to our mission here at Pedigree. People love furry friends, but they often shy away from adopting shelter dogs for fear that they may come with lots of trauma. This campaign challenges negative stereotypes surrounding shelter dogs by reminding people that shelters are full of good dogs who will make fantastic companions. All they need is an equally good new home.”

Entitled “Shelters are full of good dogs. They just need good homes,” the campaign imagines spectacular origin stories for shelter dogs – as told by the creative children who now call them their own.

The Stories

There’s “Alien” which tells the story of an astronomer who leaves behind her dog Bandit after getting abducted by aliens (because the alien’s dog abduction suction system wasn’t working, okay?).

In “Vampires,” we see an adorable terrier named Sandy happily mirror the vampiric habits of her vegan Dracula-like owner Boris – until he sees that Sandy longs for the company of fellow canines with less nocturnal ways.

Creatively encouraging pet adoption

The campaign is not the first time that BBDO New York has created a campaign for Pedigree to encourage adoptions. When the pandemic closed shelters across the UK last year, BBDO produced “Dogs on Zoom” for the agency, a campaign which found creative ways to connect potential adopters with pups.