The Toronto Humane Society and Grip Limited have teamed up to create PuppySwap. The idea is simple: pick your favourite breed of puppy, love them, and as soon as they’ve grown up, trade them in for another young, cute, and energetic puppy.
Fortunately, PuppySwap is not real. It’s a campaign to educate the public about animal abandonment and the fact that of the 180,000 animals that enter Canadian shelters every year, 40% will never leave.
The canine-loving folks at Grip took that statistic to heart and created the pro-bono campaign. “It’s a passion project,” said Randy Stein, partner, creative at Grip. Many of the staff at Grip have fostered for the Humane Society and own animals themselves. “It has taken a large group of dog-lovers to get this all together.”
In the first 60-seconds of the ad goes into great detail of how PuppySwap supposedly works, with playful music and a cheery voiceover, before the saddening statistic is revealed. The rest of the ad takes a markedly more somber tone.
The campaign aims to educate any and all potential animal owners. “We want them to know that pet ownership is for life,” Stein said. “It’s all about starting a conversation.”
“I hope it opens up a lot of discussion, a lot of conversation. Hopefully people with think a little longer before surrendering their pet,” said Makyla Deleo, manager of media relations and event logistics with the Toronto Humane Society.
There are a number of options, she said, for people who are thinking of surrendering (like pet behaviour classes, pet food banks, low-cost spaying and neutering and low-cost illness treatment) that can hopefully make it easier for them to keep their pet.
The campaign launched last Friday. Because there is no paid media, Grip hopes stations will play ads for the foreseeable future. The campaign includes the PuppySwap website, a 60-second television advertisement, a YouTube video, a radio spot, print posters and social media exposure.
