New Zealand is a nation of dog lovers, yet the number of dogs in shelters continues to grow.

In 2008, the PEDIGREE Foundation was established by Mars Petcare & PEDIGREE to In 2008, the PEDIGREE Foundation was established by Mars Petcare & PEDIGREE to drive dog adoption. Since then, they have made it their goal to end pet homelessness by 2050, ensuring every dog finds their forever home.

However dog homelessness has continued to grow, with 12 million dogs currently sitting and waiting in shelters around the world.

With a problem so huge, making another ad about adoption wasn’t enough. Instead, we wondered if we could make every ad Adoptable.

Our objective was to supercharge our purpose using new technologies. The question was, ‘how can tech allow us to get more dogs into loving homes, at a scale that was previously unfeasible’.

We knew that to make meaningful change, ‘ending dog homelessness’ couldn’t be a philanthropic side project for the brand. From 2022 – 2023, PEDIGREE committed 25% of their total media spend to purpose-led work. Being an FMCG brand, our challenge was how do we do good without taking media dollars away from our retail and sales driving work. So, somehow, we had to find a way to make our hardest working media work hard for shelter dogs.

Every PEDIGREE ad around the world has one universal similarity. It always features a dog in it. We wondered, what if that dog could be adoptable. Partnering with Nexus Studios, we’ve developed a bespoke system that can transform a single image of a shelter dog into studio quality photography. This 'glow up' image is then mapped to a CGI rig, allowing the photo-real double to be positioned in any pose to suit any piece of PEDIGREE creative.

Adoptable uses a stable diffusion machine learning model - an innovative approach that gives unprecedented control over outputs compared to generic AI models.

Now the world’s biggest pet food company can give shelter dogs the stage they deserve, at a scale that was previously impossible.

PEDIGREE loves all dogs. But the dogs that need our love the most are the underdogs – the ones languishing in shelters around the world. Adoptable transforms the way shelter dogs are perceived by showing them in their best light, on a big stage. It breaks down the negative stigma around shelter dogs and shows just how loveable they are.

By showcasing these shelter dogs in our advertising, Adoptable disrupts the perpetuation of pure breeds in media, widening our consideration of mixed breeds that make up a majority of homeless dogs.

The tech behind Adoptable allows any shelter dog to get the glow up they deserve, improving how they are perceived. This solves one of the biggest impacts on whether a dog is adopted – with a bad photo no longer standing between a shelter dog and their forever home.

Shelter workers around the world have the highest suicide rate of any occupation. Adoptable doesn’t just aim to get more dogs into loving homes, it also aims to give hope to the humans who care for these dogs. Already, we’ve seen positive sentiment amongst shelter workers – with some taking their dogs for photo opportunities in front of their billboards!

Our objective is to get shelter dogs adopted. But before they can be adopted, they need to be seen.

PEDIGREE’s annual media reach and impressions are in the billions. But currently, only 25% of PEDIGREE’s global media spend goes towards purpose-led work. Adoptable changes that. It puts purpose at the heart of every piece of digital creative. So that now every impression for PEDIGREE, is an impression of a shelter dog.

Soon, whenever someone sees a dog in a PEDIGREE ad, they’ll know that dog is adoptable.

Adoptable has already proven that showing shelter dogs in their best light gives them a better chance of adoption.

We’ve seen a significant uplift in the likelihood of adoption for dogs who have featured in an Adoptable asset, versus their original picture taken by a shelter.

Shelter site visits: 6x increase in traffic and profile views for featured dogs

4.5 x longer dwell time on the dog’s profile once on the site

50% of featured dogs adopted in first two weeks

12% more likely to adopt when the adopter comes into the shelter site via an Adoptable asset