Animals voted tops in advertising
6 June 2002
According to the latest research, horses and dogs are favourites to sell products
One of London’s leading advertising agencies, Joshua, spent a year researching how strongly people identified animals with brands.
More than 600 people from around the country took part in various focus groups and the results showed that dogs are favourites in advertising, while horses are ranked fourth.
According to research,horses are seen to cross social boundaries and are ingrained in many people’s consciousness. However, they only have an impact when in full flight and are seen as being “owned” by companies, such as the famous black Lloyds Bank horse.
Nick Splinder the agency’s managing director said: “As a nation Britain responds well to the presence of animals in advertising because they have a classless appeal. Although dogs came out top, horses were also in the top five.”
The wide appeal of dogs is thought to be linked to their popularity as a domestic pet. Favourites are Labradors because of their association with the Andrex commercials and Old English Sheepdogs, which are often referred to as the “Dulux” dog.
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The research was commissioned by Joshua which is responsible for the flying pig TV campaign for Zurich Financial services. This is the first commercial by the agency to feature animals and it needed to make sure pigs would be well received by audiences.
And, in case anyone is wondering what has become of the three pigs used in filming, rest assured. The trio can be found down on a farm where they will spend the rest of their days “pigging out” – paid for by Zurich.
Read more about animals on TV:
- Soap star terrier up for TV award
- TV company sponsors guide dog puppy
- Lassie voted “people’s favourite”
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