Puppy Bowl IX

With all this hype about the Super Bowl, I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention the Puppy Bowl.  It's been an "underground" event for the last nine years, that is starting to get a lot of buzz.  It used to be an alternative to the Half Time Show, but this year it was on during all the pre-game programming.

It's such a perfect property to be coming from Animal Planet!

Honestly, it was a blast to watch, at least for a little while.  Who doesn't like watching a bunch of cute little puppies playing together.  But there was some real "gaming" involved in terms of scoring and fouls, which was adorable.

And there was a purpose ... all of the puppies were available for adoption.  So cool!

Sponsors were aplenty!  Including some you would expect like Pedigree (dog food) and Bissell (imagine all that stray hair).  And some you might not expect like Ice Breakers (bad breath and dogs, well maybe) and Subaru (gotta carry those dogs around).  Plus a movie tie-in with Despicable Me 2 (going for the families!).

For marketers, this is a great way to target dog lovers and for consumers it's a great way to take a break from all of the Super Bowl activity.  And what's the rule in advertising .... always use puppies and babies?!?

What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
Author, The Experience Effect series
Professor, NYU

PS - We're doing it again this weekend!  Live tweets during the Grammy Awards Sunday night starting at 6:30pm EST on Twitter at #GrammyExp