Pets in advertising

Is it just me, or has there been a noticeable increase in television ads appealing to the pet owner?

I've recently seen ads from Disney, Volkswagen, Pedigree, Castrol, Motel 6, Ameritrade, and Scottrade that feature dogs. Volkswagen and Ameritrade highlight a young single woman with her dog, while Scottrade and Castrol target the male dog owner.

Then, of course, there's the Aflac duck, which is not really a pet, more like an independent thinker. But the talking duck, like Disney's anthropomorphized dogs, taps directly into the trend of the humanisation of companion animals.

Let me know what ads you see featuring pets.

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