Mars Petcare India's 'Feed Them Like Cats and Dogs' Takes On Home-Cooked Pet Diets
Mars Petcare India has launched 'Feed Them Like Cats and Dogs', an awareness campaign for its Pedigree and Whiskas brands, developed by BBDO India and BBDO Guerrero. The campaign highlights the risks of home-cooked food for pets and promotes scientifically formulated pet food, citing a survey of Indian veterinarians which found 9 in 10 pets are fed nutritionally imbalanced diets.
- Advertiser: Mars Petcare India
- Brands: Pedigree and Whiskas
- Campaign: 'Feed Them Like Cats and Dogs'
- Agencies: BBDO India and BBDO Guerrero
- Central claim: 9 in 10 pets fed nutritionally imbalanced diets, per a survey of Indian veterinarians
Arguing Against a Habit, Not a Competitor
The campaign's opponent is not a rival brand but a widespread household practice, feeding pets home-cooked food, which is the harder and more interesting marketing problem. In India, cooking for a pet reads as an act of care rather than neglect, so the campaign has to reframe that behaviour without implying owners have been failing their animals, a tonal line the title itself walks by turning "fed like cats and dogs" from an insult into the intended instruction.
Leaning on Veterinarians for Permission to Make the Claim
Anchoring the argument in a survey of Indian veterinarians rather than the brand's own nutritional messaging borrows third-party authority for a claim that would otherwise sound self-serving coming from a pet-food manufacturer. Running the idea across both Pedigree and Whiskas simultaneously also treats the message as category education rather than brand preference, which makes sense when the commercial goal is moving owners into packaged pet food at all before competing for which pack they choose.
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