Toronto Humane Society's Puppy Swap
Toronto Humane Society wanted to bring attention and awareness to the fact that over 180,000 pets are surrendered to Canadian shelters each year, many by owners who aren't ready for the responsibility of caring for a pet.
To get the message of responsible pet ownership to a younger, social-savvy demographic, Grip created a fake online company called "Puppy Swap" — the world's first puppy subscription service with a low monthly rate and no long-term commitment.
The subscription service was explained on PuppySwap.ca, where users could select a puppy from the carousel that highlights the top trending breeds rated by Social Likeability, Cute Factor, and even Babe/Hunk Magnetism. Dedicated social media handles for "Puppy Swap" were also created to direct traffic to the site.
Grip also filmed a video that was shared online to tell the story of this innovative new online website service. Every piece of creative worked to substantiate "Puppy Swap" as a legitimate business service for an online revolving door puppy subscription service.
People's enraged reactions led to debate and drew attention to Canada's pet abandonment problem. Once the reveal was discovered, people began to self-moderate, urging those who were outraged to watch the video until the end, or click "sign up" on the website to uncover the truth behind the campaign. Then the support came barrelling in.
When the Toronto Humane Society revealed its true message, Puppy Swap grew from local, to national, to international news. Seemingly overnight, the Toronto Humane Society became a dominant voice against pet abandonment not just in Canada, but the world.
The online video has received over 402,000 video views with more than 500 shares and hundreds of comments on Facebook alone, and well nearly 2, 500 mentions on Twitter. The reach of the overall social media conversation around Puppy Swap is over 11.9 million to date and climbing.
The media in market drove over 104,860 website visits (63% acquired from social channels) with +5.5% of all visitors clicking for more information on pet abandonment and the Toronto Humane Society.
