Have DREAMIES Made the Purr-fect Pet Food Ad?

Pet food might feel like a risk free category for brands. People love pets, pets like food, so show pets eating food and positive emotion is guaranteed, right? And for the most part that is right. As its high 3.4-Star average on Test Your Ad shows, it’s one of those categories where something generic still feels pretty good.

So what happens when you do take risks in a risk-free category, and when your brand isn’t prepared to just go with the flow?

You get something like DREAMIES and Adam&EveDDB’s new ad, which throws convention out the window for a different kind of cat food commercial. One that ends up scoring the highest ever Star Rating in a UK pet food ad.

DREAMIES pet treats for cats, launched in 2011, have achieved huge success with pet owners. Look on the internet and you’ll find posts singing their praises and articles asking if the snacks are actually addictive (don’t worry cat owners, they aren’t!)

DREAMIES have leaned into their reputation as the treat cats love with a series of irreverent ads and stunts playing on the idea that cats will do anything to get them, while also celebrating the sheer individuality and unpredictability that cat people love. Most recently, Adam&EveDDB did some lovely out-of-home work with fibreglass model cats climbing drainpipes and walking on billboard edges to try and get at some DREAMIES shown on a poster.

That kind of creative approach is in evidence in this new TV ad too – which shows daredevil cats clinging to the side of a DREAMIES truck before getting their reward at the end. An upbeat garage rock track soundtracks the journey, which is created with dozens of individually designed CGI cats.

By moving away from individual pets enjoying the product, DREAMIES and the agency have taken a risk, but it’s paid off in full. At 5.8-Stars, DREAMIES have achieved the highest Star Rating we’ve ever recorded in this category, and they’ve also landed an Exceptional score in short-term Spike Rating. It’s the kind of performance we’re used to seeing in Christmas ads, but it’s far more unusual for everyday work.

What makes DREAMIES’ ad so good? It’s a perfect example of what Orlando Wood calls showmanship, the need for an ad to put on a show. Ads should entertain people, in this case by giving them something they haven’t seen before, a cat hitching a ride on a lorry. There’s a clear link to the product proposition and a prominent role for the brand, but the reason people love the ad is the novelty and entertainment value. The lesson? Even in a safe-bet category, it pays to take risks.