Puppy Love

February 19, 2015 | Blog | By Lightbox

This past weekend my Twitter feed was filled with images of heart-shaped food, my Spotify account had suggested I listen to the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack, and on the local news there was even a story about two falcons that had found love on top of the Tappen Zee bridge.

I know it’s cliché and perhaps I’m just easily manipulated, but I find myself thinking about love this time of year- and love, as they say, is what “makes a Subaru, a Subaru.”

For me, Subaru’s “Dog tested. Dog approved.” campaign from Carmichael Lynch was love at first sight.  It focuses on an anthropomorphized family of Golden Retrievers in everyday suburban, driving situations.  Here’s the one I saw recently:

The money shot is the puppy in the car seat- you can’t unsee that and why would you want to?

Although the slogan is, at best meaningless, and at worse a flat out lie- how exactly does a dog “approve” a vehicle?- the ads stand up.   Animal lovers in particular will not resist the charm, and that’s their target.  They did their research, and according to Carmichael Lynch “Subaru drivers are two times more likely than the average car owner to have a pet.”

Here’s another one we can all relate to:

There are five ads altogether, and they’re all clever, relatable, and most importantly: sharable. “Dog tested. Dog Approved.” has been a recurring campaign in one form or another since 2011 when it debuted on Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl. The spots have racked up millions of views and thousands of shares and were even voted best automotive spots of Super Bowl XLIV by U.S. News and World Report (running on a different network, no-less!).  Their website has a page introducing the dogs, a.k.a. The Barkleys, and their real-life backgrounds. You can even follow them on Tumblr if you’re in need of any driving-dog memes.