ohmidog!

Subaru plans to eschew the Super Bowl again this year, running its new “Dog Tested, Dog Approved” commercials during the Puppy Bowl instead.

It’s the same approach the car company took last year, aiming its marketing at dog owners, as opposed to football fans. That’s a teaser from one of the new ads above.

According to the manufacturer, Subaru drivers are two times more likely than the average car owner to have a pet.

In addition to showing its ad during Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl IX, Subaru is unveiling a new Facebook application that, among other things, pairs a dog’s breed with the appropriate model of Subaru. Dog owners can enter their dogs breed, weight, and lifestyle and the “Matchmaker” will identify a fitting car model for the dog.

(To see all our “Woof in Advertising” posts, click here.)

We’re not too wowed by the car, or by this new commercial for it, but seeing a pit bull in a Cadillac ad — even though his appearance is far too brief — is something to celebrate.

We love that a car company like Cadillac is featuring a pit bull in an ad. We only wish it would have featured more of the dog and less of the good-looking, well-dressed hipster guys.

The ad, dubbed “Night Out,” opens with two guys in stylish duds playing baseball at night when a third friend stops by to pick them up in his Cadillac XTS.

Driving along, they come across what appears to be a farmer, or some other old, salty sort in a cap and flannel shirt, standing in the rain, apparently the victim of car trouble, or pick-up truck trouble.

They give him, and his pit bull, a ride.

Then they all go to a diner to eat, apparently leaving the dog in the Cadillac. Inside, they get the urge to do some dancing. The farmer, waitress, and eventually the whole crowd, join in.

Next we see the Cadillac driver heading home by himself as the sun comes up, passing through some unexplainedly scenic rural countryside on his way from the diner to his high-rise apartment.

He stops the car, and gets out to throw something even though the dog is no longer there to chase it.

We’re not sure what happens to the farmer, dog and fashionable friends, but the Cadillac owner returns home to his ritzy apartment building where the doorman asks, “Another big night on the town?”

The ad — unless we’re missing something — doesn’t seem to have the greatest story line. It’s not real easy to follow, and the diner dancing is a little goofy. But they did get one thing right — the dog.

(To see all our “Woof in Advertising” posts, click here)

Here’s the latest ad from Travelers Insurance, which has a long tradition of featuring dogs in its commercials, most often a mixed breed named Chopper.

We loved it when Chopper went to great lengths to find a safe place for his bone. We loved it when Chopper found true love.

In this one, Chopper has a special bone that is the envy of all the neighborhood dogs, and while he seems to be intent on keeping it for himself, and away from the other dogs, he actually has something else in mind.

While Chopper is clearly the star dog in Travelers’ stable, we see much promise in another of the canine actors appearing in this one; namely, the Boston terrier. Check out his smile at the end.

This ad features the song “What I Want This Season” by Orba Squara.

To see all of our “Woof in Advertising” posts, click here.

Subaru has done it again.

This heartwarming commercial follows a young man over the years, making the point that, whatever else might change, his two most loyal companions do not — his chocolate Lab and his Subaru.

There’s something about seeing the Lab go from a pup to a grey-muzzled senior that reminds us of the true meaning of loyalty, and might even make some of us tear up.

Of course, a car’s not really capable of loyalty. But we humans are.

So Subaru — doing it well and doing it often — continues in its advertising  to seize upon what’s probably the best symbol for loyalty there is: the dog.

And more often than not, it works.

To see all of our “Woof in Advertising” posts, click here.

Wouldn’t you really rather get there in a BMW?

Of course you would, unless “there” happened to be a neutering appointment.

This boxer is eager to hit the road until — thanks to the latest technology — he seems to become aware of the destination, and makes a quick exit.

(To see all our “Woof in Advertising” posts, click here.)

The dog ate the car keys? No big deal — at least not in this case, and as far as the car goes.

In this new ad from Volkswagen, entitled “Vet,” a Jetta owner, and bulldog owner, discovers the latter has eaten the keys to the former, but calmly handles the situation.

He grabs the bulldog, puts him in his car and, thanks to a keyless operating system, starts the car up and heads for the veterinarian.

(To see all of our “Woof in Advertising” posts, click here.)

Remember that Super Bowl ad for Skechers athletic shoes — the one that featured Mr. Quiggly, a French bulldog,  racing a group of greyhounds at an Arizona racetrack?

It led to some major backlash, mainly from Grey2K USA, an anti-greyhound racing group that had documented abuses at Tucson Greyhound Park, where the ad was filmed. The organization, and others, tried to get the ad pulled and then called for a boycott of Skechers, saying the ad promoted cruelty.

Given all that, what is one to make of this?

A band called Swedish House Mafia — if band is even the right word – has teamed up with Absolut Vodka to create a commercial that promotes the musical group, and the vodka, and, seemingly, the racing of futuristic greyhound robots.

I don’t begin to understand what’s going on in the ad,  but the band members appear to be taking part in some sort of virtual greyhound racing experience in which they are the dogs, as a crowd of people dressed in Lady Gaga-like attire and wearing too much make-up watch, biting their lips in excitement.

One of the digital greyhounds takes a fall at some point, but gets up and keeps running.

Most people seem to find the ad, and its pounding techno dance club music,  highly cool, but an Arizona greyhound rescuer and blogger has lashed out against it, saying it promotes animal cruelty.  “…Greyhounds are once again perceived as futuristic exploited racing machines,” Karyn Zoldan wrote on her blog, Tucson Tails. “The video is a deadly cross between Project Runway and Mad Max.”

“…This ad is haunting…haunting in the way it promotes greyhound racing as subhuman depravity. Haunting in a way, I feel nauseous and want to vomit.”

GREY2K USA, to its credit, hasn’t taken a position on the Absolut ad, deeming it not worth pouncing upon, given no greyhounds were used in it and those depicted are computer-made images.

Besides, complaining about an ad so oddly ambiguous and unclear in its meaning — if it has any – would be a waste of time, and who has time to waste in today’s fast-paced world?

Absolut Greyhound  is a blend of vodka and grapefruit juice — a bold marketing concept that spares us from the endless toil of having to mix those things ourselves.

If you’re wondering what greyhound racing and vodka have to do with each other, the answer is absolutely nothing. The only connection I can see is that there was — even before Absolut had the foresight to put them in the same bottle — a vodka and grapefruit juice cocktail called a Greyhound, and adding salt to it makes it a Salty Dog.

While we don’t object to cocktails being named after dogs, or to consuming vodka, or to mixing it with grapefruit juice, we”re all for an end to greyhound racing.

While slowly fading away, it continues in seven states.

Racing greyhound robots, though? We have no objections to that. In fact, it can even be looked at as a solution.

If only robots were raced at greyhound tracks, industry employees would learn news skills more befitting modern times. There would be employment opportunities for all the techno-nerds who build and service them. There would be no worries about feeding or humanely maintaining the dogs. There would be no exploitation of animals for human gain — just exploitation of robots, and I kind of like that idea, at least until they turn  on us. There could even be techno dance music pumped in, and vodka-based beverages served.

And, odds are –  when it comes to the real, breathing versions — there’d be a lot more happy greyhounds.

(To see all our Woof in Advertising posts, click here.)

The American Veterinary Medical Association next month could give final approval to a policy that discourages feeding pets “raw or undercooked animal-source protein diets” — on the grounds that they are unsafe for dogs, cats and humans.

Some people see the measure as a proactive and well-reasoned stance, aimed at making our dogs and ourselves safer.

Some see it as meddling.

And some see it as a conspiracy.

I, not being a dog food expert, fall into the middle ground — those vast numbers of folks who are highly confused by our dog-feeding options, puzzled over what truly is best for our dogs, befuddled by how so-called experts can be telling us exact opposite things, scared by anything from China, fretting over what we can afford, and, all the while, wondering how something like dog food has managed to become the volatile topic it has.

Emotions about dog food, given all the scares and recalls of the past decade, sometimes seem to run nearly as high as those in the abortion debate, and proponents of one kind of food or another are just about as firmly entrenched in their beliefs.

My dog Ace thrived on a raw diet the two years he was on it. His coat was shinier, his health was good, his stools were less massive, leading a layman like myself to belief that, as its proponents claim, it was a more natural choice for his species, and one he seemed to absorb something from, unlike kibble, which just seemed to go in one end and out the other.

(We switched back to kibble and canned when we entered a refrigerator-less phase of life, and haven’t gone back on raw for budget reasons.)

Even without Ace as a customer, the raw diet has continued to grow in popularity — probably at least in part because of all the issues surrounding other forms of dog food, which, we’d point out, the AVMA hasn’t felt a need to take a stand on.

Next month, at its meeting in San Diego, the AVMA House of Delegates will be voting on a policy discouraging feeding pets a raw diet, based on scientific studies that have shown raw meat, unless it has been subjected to a process that eliminates pathogens, can be contaminated with Salmonella, Campylobacter, Clostridium, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus.

These infections can sicken pets and pet owners alike, and even be life-threatening, the AVMA says.

All that is true enough. Then again, it’s also true of the hamburger meat you bring home from the grocery store. Read more »

I don’t want a Father’s Day card from my dog.

While I may — colloquially — refer to myself, or permit others refer to me, as “Ace’s dad,” I don’t see myself as exactly that, especially if he ever decides he wants to go to college, in which case the best I could do would be to buy him a handbook on how to apply for doggie student loans.

I don’t like to call myself Ace’s father (for that either humanizes him or dogizes me). I don’t like the term “owner” (too reminiscent of slavery), or “caretaker” (for that is something mutual that we do for each other). “Partner” doesn’t work either. (Though it comes closest, the word  has come to have extra connotations in modern society.)

Friend will suffice nicely.

And no card — Hallmark or otherwise — is necessary.

Father’s Day cards from the dog — and this is no big surprise — are becoming more popular, which is just fine with greeting card companies.

The Washington Post’s John Kelly commented on the phenomenon in a column this week:

“When I was at CVS, I saw Father’s Day cards for your dog. Not for you to give to your dog, but for the dog to give to the man of the house …

“Hallmark is brilliant. They don’t let a little thing like our traditional notion of Father’s Day — that it’s a day for [human] children to give cards to their [human] paternal units — stand in the way of sales. They know that they can add millions in revenue to their bottom line if they can just expand the boundaries of Father’s Day.”

One of the things I most like about dogs is that, unlike us, they don’t fall prey to such marketing and gimmickry. Dogs don’t buy Father’s Day cards. Dogs dont get on the computer and invest in stocks or sign up for matchmaking services. Dogs don’t try to buy one and get one free, or enter contests. (You may already be a weiner dog.)

To be clear, we’re not talking here about Father’s Day cards that merely have images of dogs — but personalized cards, meant to be from the dog.

Here’s one I found on Squidoo, the inside of which reads:

“I’m all wags for my woof-woof-woofunderful Dad!”

The one at the top of this post is from Zazzle.com, which has a wide selection.

Petside.com offers several you can print out, and they appeared to be free.

A more philanthropic option is to order dad an ecard through the Maryland SPCA – and a portion of profits goes to benefit homeless animals in the shelter.

I’m not telling you how to live your life. Feel free to buy a card for Dad and pretend it’s from the dog. (Feel free, too, to purchase Dad a far more useful Travels with Ace calendar, half of the profts from which go to Rolling Dog Farm, a sanctuary for deaf, blind and disabled animals in New Hampshire.)

I’m just saying that — even though cards with dogs on them are my favorite — I don’t need a card from Ace, or even a card from my human son, who’s now visiting with me.

Every day with them is a gift already (sorry, greeting card companies). If you feel the need to spend money, make a donation to an animal shelter in honor of dad.

I think that would be much more woof-woof-woofunderful.

Harried New York subway riders can now stop and play some fetch — throwing digital tennis balls to digital dogs at a digital dog park on the wall of a vacant storefront at the Columbus Circle subway station.

The storefront beneath 57th St. and Eighth Ave. has been transformed into a virtual dog park — with dogs included.

It’s like a Nintendo Wii game, the New York Daily News reports, with a screen that’s 64-feet long and 6-feet high.

It’s all part of a Beneful dog food advertising campaign — but one commuters are finding to their liking.

“This is awesome,” said Zeinabou Banks, 38, as her two pre-schoolers tossed  tennis balls that two digital dogs retrieved. “It’s ingenious.”

Daily News columnist Pete Donohue described it as:

“…  a perfect and unexpected antidote to all the dismal sights in the subway: a woman panhandler sitting on the floor at Grand Central with an infant cradled in her arms; a madman in filthy rags looking like he escaped from a leper colony; a middle-aged man in a suit keeling over and dying of a heart attack on the dirty floor of a crowded No. 4 train; a teen-age mom with a neck tattoo cursing out a crying toddler for acting like a toddler.”

“In the Columbus Circle passageway,” he noted, “the sun shines, birds chirp and the wind rustles the green grass.”

The interactive advertisement is only the second of its kind in the subway system, but more are expected to be showing up underground.

(Photo: Andrew Savulich / New York Daily News)