Every year at Super Bowl we look forward to Animal Planet’s alternative event, the Puppy Bowl XIII. This year’s no different. Via Adweek:
Animal Planet’s mantra heading into the Puppy Bowl—its annual telecast featuring puppies playing football, held a few hours before the Super Bowl—is always, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. “We stick with what really works for us: putting puppies that are available for adoption up onscreen and letting them do their thing. That’s been the secret sauce,” said Jason Goldberg, vp, client and brand partnerships, Discovery Communications.
But for this year’s Puppy Bowl XIII, which airs next Sunday, Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. ET, the network has partnered with sponsors to add a few new bells and whistles, including virtual reality and branded content.
Animal Planet and Pedigree are bringing VR to the Puppy Bowl for the first time, providing a “pup’s-eye view” of the action via Buttons, one of the 78 adoptable puppies (from 34 animal shelters and rescue organizations nationwide) competing on “Team Ruff” and “Team Fluff.”
VR “has been a corporate priority for us. We’re one of the leading producers of VR content,” said Goldberg, adding that the concept was a good fit with Pedigree, which has been sponsoring the Puppy Bowl for 12 years straight and was looking to “reinvigorate” its involvement.
“Every year, Animal Planet and ourselves have challenged each other to be more resonant and meaningful with what’s happening in the world of media,” said Melodie Bolin, Pedigree brand manager. When Animal Planet suggested VR, “we were so excited about it, because how cute is seeing everything through the eyes of a puppy on the field?”
The VR content is available via Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl hub page, YouTube, Discovery’s VR apps and Facebook.