“Dog Days of Summer” was a single-medium print campaign created to advertise an office fundraiser benefiting Memphis Animal Services, the city owned animal shelter in Memphis, Tennessee.
Goal
My goal for this copy was to engage our audience to see adoptable animals as loving individuals that, despite coming in a wide variety of looks and sizes, would be charismatic additions to a household.
Execution
The headlines for these posters were inspired by the Audubon Society’s style for cataloguing bird species – my goal was to create copy that would engage the audience by turning an animal-centric naming convention, that they were likely familiar with, on its head by applying it to dogs and cats.
The sub-copy worked to highlight the specific positive personality traits our audience could expect with shelter dogs and cats. This was particularly important in the dog poster – our research indicated that upwards of 65% of dogs in public shelters were some form of pit bull-mix breed dog. It was imperative to my copy strategy that I took care to represent these shelter dogs – who are so often mischaracterized as aggressive and/or dangerous – in a way that was representative of their family-friendly, good-hearted nature.
Results
Due to this campaign, we raised over $700 in donations for MAS over a five-day period! This campaign also won a Gold ADDY in the Ad Industry Self-Promotion category at the American Advertising Federation – Memphis awards in February 2025 and a Silver ADDY in the District 7 American Advertising Awards in April 2025.
Non-Sporting White-Breasted Wiggle Butt
One of the most popular species available for adoption, the Non-Sporting White-Breasted Wiggle Butt is most widely known for its people-pleasing personality and loving attitude towards their family. They come in a variety of colors and markings, and although their natural ears are floppy, some individuals may sport cropped ears—don’t worry, they’re still ready and able to listen to you talk all day! This species is abundant throughout animal rescues across North America.
Bonus: The creation of this campaign led me to adopt my own Non-Sporting White-Breasted Wiggle Butt from MAS!
Art Director: Deborah Elam
Creative Director: Amy Lind
Morgan McKinney 