High Five: For the Love of Animals

Anthropomorphism can be a helpful tool to confront people with unhealthy or dangerous behaviour in a friendly way. Interac uses a dog who’s hooked on credit to illustrate the perils of credit card debt and encourage people to pay with a debit card instead. A great example of how animals can help brands hold up a mirror, without pointing a finger.

Pet or farm animal; real, plush or CGI - it doesn’t matter, really. Animals in all shapes and sizes can touch us and make us consider changing our behaviour. Quorn uses muppet-like spokes-animals to promote the benefits of a meat free diet and convince us to ‘forget about the alternative’. A fun and effective reminder that meat doesn’t grow on trees.

Asus took one of the most popular animal memes of that moment - birds with arms - to promote their 2-in-1 laptop. Instead of overwhelming people with specs, the bird protagonist playfully explains why the device is a smart choice. Proving all the while that animals can even convey product messaging in an engaging way.

This oxytocin booster was the first ad that came to mind when I was considering this High Five topic. It builds on the ‘Be Together, Not the Same’ campaign that Android released the year before, using unlikely fur friends as inspiration: "You don’t have to be a cute animal to show the world how to ‘be together, not the same’ - but it definitely helps."

Just like happy animals in ads can evoke positive feelings, ads with animals in distress often make us feel empathy, sadness or even guilt, which can be equally effective in getting a message across or persuading people to change their behaviour - especially when done in such a great way as this.