There are thousands of animal shelters in Brazil. And most of them are overcrowded, creating a serious epidemic animal health problem which also becomes a human public health issue as well.Animals dying by all kind of diseases and depression is a routine in these public shelters. Yet, people keep spending a lot of money to buy a pet rather than adopting one. We believe there's no difference between purebred animals and shelter animals. To show this, we invited pet shops to lend their displays for a day. We replaced the animals for sale with pets for adoption.Without telling people.

People often got emotional on the spot and the adoptions were almost sure.

The video from the experience became viral and people were also heavily impacted online. Hundreds of adoption requests were received through the campaign website and the message was wide spread: better than buying a life is saving one.

We had to show people there's no real difference between shelter animals and pet shop animals.In the end they're all animals capable affection and as lovely as any other regular pet.It's just a mindset that had to be confronted in the right spot with the right message.Shelters can be depressing places to visit, and stereotypes about the animals form there can play a role in people deciding not to risk taking one of these animals home.Pet shops have a more positive perception. By altering the environment and not warning people those were actually shelter animals, we extinguish the preconceptions involved.

To achieve our goal of confronting people about their perception of pet shop animals and shelter animals we had to do the live experience right on the spot, in the pet shop. However, the message needed to be carried on. So, the filmed experience was then distributed online. We did a massive PR effort to insert the video as content, not as paid media. As this is a pro bono cause, we got loads of non-paid media. We also distributed it through Instagram, Whatsapp and 1min versions were aired in cinemas and indoor digital adverts like bus TVs and elevators.

Hundreds of pet shops across the country have joined the project. All of them will lend its displays for a day. 41 dates have been scheduled so far. Priceless Pets has been highlighted in national and international media as content, not paid media. We got 30 minutes of live airplay in one of the most important TV shows in Brazil. The plot: "would you adopt an abandoned animal?". Celebrities and common people with real life changing adoptions were live, discussing the subject. Their pets were also brought to stage and charmed the audience. Our video was the 2nd most visited link on BuzzFeed with almost 400k organic non-paid views in one day. Over 20 national celebrities supported the idea through their social media channels. And what really matters: we got an impressive increase of over 1000% in adoptions. Minds were changed, hearts were touched.

To show people there's no real difference between shelter animals and pet shop animals we got to act in the exact moment they're up to buy a new pet. By exchanging the regular animals for shelter animals without warning customers, we were able to surprise them in a very impactful way.

However, the message needed to be carried on. So, the filmed experience was then distributed online. We did a massive PR effort to insert the video as content, not as paid media. As this is a pro bono cause, we got loads of non-paid media. We also distributed it through Instagram, Whatsapp and 1min versions were aired in cinemas and indoor digital adverts like bus TVs and elevators (for free). We managed to get more than 20 national celebrities to support the campaign and 30 minutes of live airplay in one of the most important TV shows in Brazil.

The World Health Organisation estimates that there are 30 million abandoned cats and dogs in Brazil, meaning that shelters have become overcrowded and dirty. But despite this, many people still opt to buy a new pet instead of adopting one. We needed to change the perception that an expensive petshop purebred animal is better than a shelter animal. We needed to make way for these pets that are actually as lovely as any other purebred animal.