Car Advertising Has Literally Gone To The Dogs

Subaru’s dog family campaign leaves lots of room for interpretation.

Who doesn’t love a dog driving a car? Right? The Subaru dog family campaign has taken that idea to a new level by filling the car with the entire dog family, mom and pups included. The most intriguing part of the spots is that there is no VO or any script other than the actions of the dogs and a bit of a “woof” here or there. The story is completely told by the dog facial expressions and actions. This has a way of really drawing the viewer into the action. Not only are we taken by the fact they are cute dogs (Retrievers are always a favorite family dog) but we are engaged in figuring out the story. The scripts do an excellent job of telling human stories played out by dog expressions. And they are well played.
So, my only question is why dogs in the first place? Everybody knows if you want to get attention, use kids or dogs. They’re both lovable and they strike a cord of emotion that is in some way inexplicable. But the other half of that saying is that if you don’t want to be upstaged, avoid kids and dogs. To me, there’s a bit of the latter happening with these spots. I can remember the spots are for Subaru, but I can’t recall anything else about the model or really anything else. And I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
Brand recognition and top-of-mind awareness are always key, so in that light they do a good job. But it also says little or nothing about the cars themselves. What models are being featured? Do they feature the latest technologies? Are they roomier, safer, smarter? Again, there are two ways to look at those questions as well:
All new cars are about the same in technology and other features, so it’s not a necessity to get too far down in the weeds with all that.
The only real interest is for the consumer to put Subaru in the consideration set when looking for a new car. All these other details can be found online or at the dealer if we can get the customer to actually come to the dealer.
Either way, these dogs are doing a good job.
Although I have a bit of a struggle to figure out the dog family at the hot dog stand and their encounter with a wiener dog family. Are the wiener dogs related to the hot dogs on the table? For the wiener dogs, would the dog family eating the hot dogs be like eating family members? This one is a bit of a stretch for me and leaves a lot to the interpretation of the no VO action. But again, it does its job, it got my attention and got me to work to figure it out, or come up with my own story. Even the new tag line “Dog Tested. Dog Approved.” makes me wonder what that means in relation to these scenarios. I guess since it’s dogs and puppies what does it really matter anyway?
On another note, this campaign has also influenced me to consider Retrievers when I go shopping for dogs. But I want the one that can chauffeur me around in my car. Does that cost extra?