Private health insurer HIF has chosen rescue dogs from the Dog Refuge Home of WA to star in its new advertising campaign.
HIF Executive Manager Business Development, Anne Humphrey, said HIF’s new “Health Cover for Humans” campaign is intended to be light-hearted and make viewers laugh, but also reflects the health benefits of owning a dog.
“We embarked on this campaign after receiving tremendous feedback from our members about how beneficial they believed having a pet, particularly a dog, has been for them,” Anne said.
A recent survey by HIF indicates 99 per cent of people who have a dog say it makes them happier, while 85 per cent believe they’ve become healthier as a result of being a dog owner. Many also indicated that they believed that their dog cared about them. The new campaign looks from this angle of dogs looking out for their humans.
“Many respondents said having a dog had a positive effect not only on their physical health but also their mental health and emotional wellbeing,” Anne said. “The survey results we received included comments such as having a dog is therapeutic, dogs really are mans’ best friend, and dog owners find themselves being more active as a result.
“We also chose rescue dogs for our new campaign because we felt this was a great opportunity to show that rescue dogs can be clever, funny, caring and a perfect option for a pet. And we didn’t want to waste money on expensive ad talent.”
Anne touched further on the importance of pet rescue, explaining that almost all the dogs featured in HIF’s new ad campaign were previously rescued from local animal shelters.
“They all have their own story to tell”, she said.
One of the dogs featured in the campaign is blind and his ‘Mum’ once blindfolded her two young children to help teach them about how Toby the terrier copes with walking and getting around the house.
Another of the’ stars’, Bauer, was raised on a building site and lived on scraps of food before someone took him to the Shenton Park Dog Refuge. Bauer will feature in ads to run in the next couple of months and hopes that will increase his chances of finding a permanent home.
HIF’s new campaign follows its recent social media campaign which aimed to raise awareness of mental illness as part of World Mental Health Week.
Watch our new TV Commercial: Health Cover for Humans
Figure 1. HIF Member Survey Results
Media contact: LastSay Communications, Donna Cole on 0419 901 229 or donna@lastsay.net.au