Austrian dogs have something to watch – and listen to – on TV this week. The global food conglomerate Nestlé has launched a pet food commercial that contains high-frequency sounds aimed at canine ears. The 23-second ad for the dog food brand Beneful emits audible squeaks and pings, along with a high-pitched whine that humans can just barely hear.
“We wanted to create a TV commercial that our four-legged friends can enjoy and listen to, but also allow the owner and dog to experience it together,” said Nestlé Purina’s Anna Rabanus in a press release. The ad comes after a similarly themed effort to appeal to dogs’ olfactory sense. In Germany, the company placed on advertising kiosks posters that released the scent of Beneful dog food, in the hopes that dogs would lead their owners to the posters.
It’s unclear whether appealing directly to nonhumans will pay off for Nestlé. On the one hand, according to traditional free-market economic theories, manufacturers direct their solicitations to rational agents who trade their currency for goods and services. Dogs, while they may very well be rational, lack purchasing power and can make consumer choices only by proxy, presumably by pestering their owners.
On the other hand, the same is true for children, and manufacturers have little difficulty marketing their products to them.
Sorry Nestle, didn’t work for my dog…she prefers steak.
Who’s their marketing exec? Dr Doolittle?
Didn’t work for my Westies. They do not understand Deutch.
Just tested it. My dogs did not care at all. Didn’t even raise a head.
One of our pugs watches tv. No joke, he’ll sit there, watch the screen, and then go crazy when an animal is shown.
He has good taste though: The movie that held his attention for the entire length was 2001.
For some reason, all I could think of while watching this ad was the many parodies of the Hitler – in- the – bunker scene from ‘Downfall’ …
I hope that Nestlé Purina’s Beneful wasn’t charged too much for this.
Then again, fuck ’em.
Nestlé is selling powdered milk to African mothers without first making sure that there is safe drinking water to use in mixing the shit.
They have a lot of dysentery and death on their ignorant and unscrupulous hands.
Nestlé suck. Nestlé have sucked since the sixties.
All of this isn’t marketing to dogs.
Sheesh! It’s marketing to dog owners. Hype and viral marketing.
Brilliant, really.
PS. It’s a shame that comments had to be turned off on the Steve Jobs Dead thread because of all the whacked out loons here on this blog.
Steve Jobs died. Comments turned off. And this site design is horrible. Pretty much an all around crappy day. 🙂
Leave it here I guess.
R.I.P Steve, you were a visionary, something rare. Your vision may not be everyone’s but you changed the world anyhow, something also rare.
Palin folds…at least we have that.
been with the Mac since 87 will miss just one more thing
Steve
“Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do”
posting here because wisely comments are off Steve Jobs OB
Why do I suddenly feel the urge to eat dog food?
Why the clip is in German?
Well, it so funny now that Nestle wants to make advertising for dogs.
– JOBS for EVER <3 –
Doesn’t the flicker rate during screen refresh cause the dogs to see something a bit different than what we see? Or is that only an issue with parakeets?