Dogs Are Just More Fun Than Other Pets, Say Milk-Bone Ads

Can you guess which of our furry friends Milk-Bone fetes as the funnest pets of all?

Big hairy spoiler: Rover gets the nod from the canine-treats brand in :30s tagged “Life’s more fun with a dog.” Developed by Publicis’ PSOne, each spot shows just how un-fun other critters are by comparison.

For example, cats make lousy ring-bearers: 

Goldfish are all wet as jogging companions:

“Bring Your Pet to Work Day” doesn’t actually work so well with monkeys, giraffes, bees and alligators:

And playing fetch with a tortoise can be sl-o-o-o-o-w going:

“Today, people take their dogs everywhere; stores, restaurants, their office, on vacation, and our culture is really embracing the idea of ‘dog-friendly’ being the norm now, not the exception,” says Dave Latta, consumer engagement group lead at Milk-Bone parent J.M. Smucker. “We wanted to re-energize the Milk-Bone campaign and make it more culturally relevant and ubiquitous with today’s dog lovers.”

“Dog treats are meant to bring joy, but the communication across the category has become very functional and joyless,” adds PSOne executive creative director Jason Gorman. “We wanted to insert the fun back into ‘treating’ by reminding people how great it is to have a dog in your life.”

“Life’s more fun with a dog” marks the latest inventive work from the client-agency team. Past efforts includes Jif’s ridiculously apocalyptic peanut butter commercial, and reboots of classic jingles for Folgers and Meow Mix. (Cats still suck!)

Breaking this week, the Milk-Bone ads will rrrrrun across broadcast, digital and social channels. 

CREDITS

Client: The J.M. Smucker Company
Brand: Milk-Bone
Campaign Title: Life’s More Fun With A Dog
Agency: PSOne
Agency Location: New York

Chief Creative Officer: Andy Bird
Executive Creative Director: Jason Gorman
Creative Director, Art/Copy: Kristen Koop
Creative Director, Art: Shaun Bruce
Creative Director, Copy: Erik Izo
EVP, Director of Integrated Production: Jenny Read
Executive Producer: Lauren Schneidmuller
Senior Producer: Jourdan Valdes
Broadcast Business Manager: Sylvia Maxwell
Group Account Director: Gina Leone
VP Account Director: Lindsey Braem
Account Supervisor: Rebecca Harris

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Smuggler
Director: Guy Shlemerdine
Director of Photography: Jo Willems
Executive Producers: Allison Kunzman
Producer: Alex Waite

EDITORIAL COMPANY: Cartel
Editor: Kevin Zimmerman (Ring Bearer, Tortoise, Christmas Cat)
Editor: Andy McGraw (BYPTW & Goldfish)
Assistant Editors: James Bird, Anchor Mak, Zoe Kraft
Executive Producer / Partner: Lauren Bleiweiss
Executive Producer / Head of Sales: Alaina Zanotti
Senior Producer: Greer Bratschie

VFX: The Mill
Creative Director / Shoot Supervisor: Phil Crowe
Executive Producer: Anastasia von Rahl
Senior Producer: Michael Theurer
Production Coordinators: Jena Bodell, Utkarsha Shinde

Team on Christmas Cat and Ring Bearer
2D Lead Artist: Julian Ford
Comp Lead: Renjith Raveendran
Paint Lead: Prajeesh Chaliyam
2D Artists: Ajith Raj, Basabendu Sarkar, Jeff Langlois, Katerina Arroy, Mahesh Ravila, Naga Praveen Kumar, Prabhakaran M, Rahul Roy, Stephen Paragone
3D: Artist: Robert Chapin
Finish Artist: Narbeh Mardirossian

Team on Goldfish and Bring Your Pet to Work
2D Lead Artist: Tim Robbins, Rob Winfield
Comp Lead: Renjith Raveendran
Paint Lead: Prajeesh Chaliyam
2D Artist: Balachandiran K, Cris Kong, Dushant Joshi, Elad Offer, Gangadharam Raja, Jake Albers, Karthick Anaduri, Prabhakaran M, Prasanna Bhatt, Roman Yavorsky, Shahid Raja, Mangesh Borkar, Stephen Paragone, Yatin Tamhane, Yogesh Sarwa
3D Artist: Robert Chapin 

COLOR: The Mill
Colorist: Matt Osborne
Color Producer: Blake Rice
Color Assist: Logan Highlen, Gemma Parr, Brandon Phillis, Carver Moore

AUDIO: Sonic Union
Audio Mixer: David Papa (Ring Bearer, Christmas Cat)
Audio Mixer: Rob McIver (BYPTW, Goldfish, Tortoise)
Studio Director: Justine Cortale
Audio Post Producer: Nathanael Taylor

MUSIC & SOUND DESIGN: Barking Owl
Creative Director: Kelly Bayett
Producer: Ashley Benton
Sound Designer: Morgan Johnson