Shelter Pet Adoption

The ad opens up with a grey cat walking to the center of the screen where it sits down and looks as if it is looking at an object past the viewer, or maybe directly at the viewer. The cat is grey for a reason. The ad doesn’t cater to one specific breed of cat. If viewers saw a hairless cat on screen, they would think of the ad as trying to promote the adoption of Sphinx cats. The viewers may also only think to adopt a Sphinx cat after watching the ad. A grey cat such as the one shown is very generic, and allows people to think of every breed of cat rather than a specific one.

The biggest thing that stands out is the drab grey background, making it difficult to tell where the floor is and where the ceiling is. The background might be this color to symbolize how drab and grey an animal’s life is in a shelter. Everything is depressing and dreary for an animal in a shelter. The background could actually be a shelter pen that the cat is in, and the screen is the viewing glass. Another thing that stands out is that the cat is wearing a collar. A collar represents the home and ownership of an animal. This could make the ad more personal for a viewer by showing that the cat was once owned by a caring owner but is now in a shelter awaiting a home. It could also try to be showing that the cat will be adopted in the future, or right now.

The cat looks up, then down, then stands up and rubs itself on the screen as if it is rubbing itself on someone’s leg in the way that cats do to show affection. It is purring while doing this.

The cat appears to be startled and runs off the screen. It immediately comes back on screen to the center. This could be because that’s what a normal reaction of a cat would be if it actually rubbed itself on someone’s leg. The person would move their leg out of instinct, startling the cat and making it run off, but then return out of curiosity.

The cat looks up as if someone out of shot is holding a treat or toy above its head. The cat then jumps up on its hind legs, placing its front paws on the screen, like it is reaching for a treat or toy above its head. The cat then returns to all fours and walks off the screen.

“There’s a shelter pet who wants to meet you,” appears on the screen and is spoken by a woman with a soft voice. Ads such as these usually use a women’s soft voice because they are calming and peaceful. The tone makes the viewer feel sympathy for the subject of the commercial.

The words fade as the cat returns onto the screen and goes back to the center. It is purring as it sits and looks up again. It then looks directly at the viewer or something behind them. Meet one today is spoken by the woman.

The cat shifts on its paws and then rubs its face on the screen while purring. It hops up and hustles off the screen. “Visit the shelter pet project.org,” is spoken.

The organization’s logo and website pops up on the screen along with the word “Adopt,” which is then said by the female voice.

This whole ad symbolizes what a cat or any animal goes through when it is in a cage or behind a glass wall at a shelter. We’ve all been to a pet store or shelter where the animals are behind glass walls. We look at them; tap the glass and wave at them or tease them. The animals respond by approaching the glass and trying to play back. They try to show affection by licking, or rubbing against, the glass to get to us. That is exactly what this cat is doing. The drab grey background is the shelter pen that the cat is in, and the viewers are the people who are looking at the cat. The cat is acting as it would if we were standing in front of that glass wall looking at it. The ad may have done this to create sympathy for the animals, to make us feel as if we were looking at this cat deciding on whether to adopt it or not. At the end of the ad we may think to adopt an animal because we feel sorry for them, which is what the ad was aiming at making us feel.