Cats and dogs are 'endorphins' and 'legal highs' in playful pet insurance ads

Pet-related brands have been keen to emphasize the mental health benefits of pet ownership for a few years now, even more so since so many of us acquired furry friends in the pandemic. Now, a new campaign from pet insurance brand ManyPets uses real data insights around those benefits and combines them with gorgeous pet portraits for a playful and witty campaign reminding people to insure their pets.

The campaign, by Uncommon, is called "Insure Your Happiness" and centers on close up portraiture of adorable animals paired with witty captions. As well as "personal trainer," "spirit guide" and "anti-stress ball" there's "endorphin" "legal high" and "upper." These are backed by data nuggets from a survey the brand conducted on how pets can benefit our wellbeing; for example 89% of people say pets make them more active, or 80% say their pet gives them more energy. 

"Noone can deny that the relationship between pet and pet parents brings incredible mutual benefit," said Ryan Wheaton, global creative and brand director for ManyPets. "Despite this it can be difficult to articulate exactly what pets mean to us. Uncommon has managed to capture our bond in a compelling way, highlighting the limitless ways our pets look after us."

"Pets make everything better," added Lucy Jameson, co-founder at Uncommon. "They don't only bring us joy, they also have a proven positive impact on both our mental and physical wellbeing. In a world of stress and chaos, pets are more important than ever. We spotted there was a huge role and tension for ManyPets to play into here. We wanted to remind people that they have to insure their pets to insure their happiness. Plus, this was one more weapon in my war of attrition to persuade my husband to let us have a dog."

The outdoor ads are running throughout July, with an online film set to debut later in the summer as part of the campaign.