An anti-consumerism campaign for the animal protection NGO Move Institute. The initiative encourages people who want to have a pet to adopt instead of buying one. With the concept “Don’t buy a friend. Adopt it”, the campaign critiques and calls attention to the growing pet trade in Brazil. In a commercial center filled with people, cardboard boxes in the shape of cats and dogs were placed as if they were products the client could take home. The intent was to capture the reality of how pets are treated, that they are commercialized and sold like products every year. Along with an image of the animal stamped onto the box was the message “Don’t buy a friend. Adopt it”
Philosophy
Don’t buy a friend. Adopt it
Problem
There are 30 million abandoned pets in Brazil. But instead of adopting, people still prefer to buy. In order to change people’s behavior we decided to sell cats and dogs in the same way they are treated: like products. We chose cats and dogs of the most sought after breeds and transformed each one of them in a product box with diferent sizes and shapes. A special set of packs representing the breeds as ordinary products. Each box brought a specific information on height, weight and behavior and an important message: Don’t buy a friend. Adopt it. On facebook people could meet the pets awaiting for a new home.
Result
1,8 million people potentially reached online Earned media: 3.300% worth our investment Using our packs as media we could spread our message: Don’t buy a friend. Adopt it.