CAN DOGS BE A NEW TARGET AUDIENCE?
Read the text. For questions 1–4, choose the appropriate paragraph and write the corresponding letter (A–E) in the table. One paragraph does not match any of the questions.
CAN DOGS BE A NEW TARGET AUDIENCE?
A. Startled by a sudden bout of barking in your neighbourhood at around seven o’clock last night? Deafened by a collective howl of longing? Manufacturers of dog foods will be hoping so. Last night, ITV broadcast the UK’s first advert ever targeted at dogs, featuring high-pitched sounds that are inaudible to the human ear. Dogs are notoriously immune to visuals on screen, but the advert, with noises above 17,000 Hertz, had been proven to distract dogs enough for them to leave a toy and react to the television. This, in theory, will convince gullible owners that dogs are desperate for the advertised products.
B. Your first reaction to this – like mine – might well be to let out a melancholy howl yourself. But it is simply a natural progression, because animals are the new marketing frontier. Adults, in the age of the Internet, are now altogether too canny. And as an audience for adverts, children are strictly regulated and annoyingly prone to switches of allegiance. But dogs – can there be a better example of blind and undying loyalty? They are dream consumers. I’m only surprised that nobody thought of it before.
C. Pet owners are, after all, completely crazy when it comes to their animals’ supposed wants. We all know of dogs that apparently “won’t eat” anything but grilled chicken. I visited a friend recently whose house rabbit had no fewer than four kinds of rabbit treats laid out in bowls in front of the fireplace. What happened to the humble carrot? Our increasing anthropomorphism means that even sensible people interpret their own animals as having distinct emotions and desires, which means we have lost all perspective. Mind you, this is written by someone who impulse-bought a device for removing “unsightly chin hair” from a horse last week. Seriously! I had the impression he was feeling bad about it.
D. And the advertising specialists have latched onto pet adverts with the ruthlessness of a terrier with a stick of beef jerky. For years, the pet world was fairly limited in its opportunities for expenditure. You bought food and bedding and perhaps, every few years, a less tatty lead. Now, however, animals have become another outlet for our own rampant consumerism. If sales go up, I predict that within months we will have a whole slew of new animal marketing tricks.
E. However, the Kennel Club yesterday expressed concern that some noise-sensitive dogs may be spooked. They confirm that a dog’s needs are actually pretty simple: food, warmth, love, exercise. “Dogs,” a spokesperson said, “cannot always be trusted to know what’s best for them.” As someone who once had to dissuade their dog from a wax-crayon, I can only agree. But based on my own experiment, the Kennel Club needn’t worry too much. I have now played the ad three times to Alfie (a Border Terrier) and he didn’t twitch an eyebrow. However, when I said, “Would you like a sausage? Would you?” it reduced him to hysterics. Manufacturers of dog foods, you can have that one on me.
adapted from www.telegraph.co.uk
