Pets Bring People Together + Traditions 2020

For years, the bulk of Chewy’s marketing had been a very successful direct response television (DRTV) approach. However, just as so many brands were rethinking their messaging during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chewy wanted to do something different, centered on the idea that “pets bring people together.”

Our first TV spot, “Pets Bring People Together,” featured a virtual pet playdate. To film it, we developed a remote-shoot plan with a live-stream video village. We sourced hundreds of real pets and their parents. Then we built video capture kits and instructions for them, sending them iPhones, tripods, and all the gear they needed to shoot the footage themselves.

Our work with Chewy represents a core philosophy of our team. After we develop a concept, we don’t let it sit still; we help it evolve and do more for our clients. “Traditions” was our second TV campaign with Chewy in 2020. The following year we produced two more TV spots with Chewy.

“Pets Bring People Together” features a large virtual group chat between strangers who are sheltering in place as they bond over their adorable pets.

‍

For “Traditions,” Chewy asked us to imagine a brand story that captures the holidays for the new world we live in. Our answer was to show how our pets bring us together even when we can’t be in the same place—but this time, we purposefully misdirected that idea. In our story, Mom sends holiday letters and gifts only to her favorite family members: the furry ones.