Pedigree and Colenso BBDO take on dog oral care and make it unmissable

Dog food and pet care brand Pedigree has launched a new Dentastix campaign with Colenso BBDO.

Titled ‘Good dogs have bad mouth,’ the work is built on a simple idea: making the problem of dog oral health unmissable.

For some pet parents, oral care can be in the ‘maybe later’ basket – and the signs can be easily missed, with eight in 10 dogs developing oral care issues. Prevention remains the best way to maintain a dog’s oral and overall health.

Have fun with censorship

Meg Jones, Colenso BBDO global strategy lead, says: “In many ways pet parents have never done more for their dogs – from dog day spas to treats. In response to this, there’s been a proliferation of health-centered treats in the category.

“Despite this, one of the most important issues – dogs oral care – may have faded into the background. Given the lengths pet parents go to for their dogs, if they really knew their good dog could have bad mouth, they would do something about it.”

The campaign avoids complex science and scare tactics. Instead, it uses fuzzy, colourful bacterial creatures to represent an unhealthy mouth, capturing pet parents’ attention. Meanwhile, the AV features a seemingly good dog who is betrayed by his ‘bad, bad mouth’.

A simple routine

Colenso BBDO group creative director Kimberley Ragan says: “Dental issues are often presented in a solely scientific way, which is why it doesn’t always resonate with pet parents.

“Turning the inside of a dog’s mouth into a fantastical world filled with fuzzy bacterial creatures is how we took this sterile topic to make it something that stops pet parents in their tracks. In AV, we used the attention-grabbing language of ‘bad mouth’ to have fun with censorship… because who doesn’t love a good bleep-joke, right?”

Rather than positioning oral care as a chore, the campaign frames Dentastix as a simple daily habit – an easy way to support pet parents as part of an everyday oral care routine for their dog.

Demystify oral health issues

Mariana Coronel, European director, Pedigree Brand, says: “Pedigree’s unique role is to democratise good food that does good for our dogs.

“This is true of our Dentastix range too. It supports the prevention of oral health issues, as this has an impact on dog’s overall health and wellbeing.

“Historically our communications have individually spoken to the functional or emotional benefits of Dentastix, but we’ve learnt that we need both to create a sustainable change in pet parent’s habits. Our new communication platform ‘Good dogs have bad mouth’ does both by demystifying oral health issues and being hugely entertaining.”

Built as a scalable global platform, ‘Good dogs have bad mouth’ launches across OOH, social, digital and AV, with more to come.