Hasta La Creative!

Pedigree, which is owned by Mars, will be running a Super Bowl ad next February, but the ad won’t tell pet owners why the brand is superior to P&G’s Iams or Colgate-Palmolive’s Hill’s Science Diet. Instead the ad from TBWA\Chiat\Day will encourage pet adoption.

Here’s more from The Wall Street Journal:

Pedigree, which has never advertised during the big game, says the cause-marketing approach is the way to go. “It’s the right message to send out at this time,” says John Anton, Pedigree’s director of marketing. “More dogs are going to end up in shelters because of home foreclosures.” He adds, “Every time we run this campaign, we see increased sales.”

Pedigree says it spends about half its marketing budget on pushing adoption. The company declines to reveal its annual marketing budget, but TNS Media Intelligence data suggest the company spent about $32.2 million on ads last year.