To highlight the excess weight of a common pet, Hill’s transformed the highly identifiable dog moment with a gigantic hippo – an animal commonly understood as obese. The exaggerated metaphor creates a visual tension which draws the viewer to take a second look – the same action they need to do with their own pet. All the while, calling out the need to ‘Bring Your Pet Back’ to label the problem behind this transformation.

To create the proper visual effect, hundreds of videos depicting a 'dog hanging outside of a car window' were studied to identify the pose and form of a dog in this action. It was important when replacing each animal that the resulting form, expression, and gesture match its original copy.

The facial texture of hippos was also carefully analysed to accurately portray the dog-to-hippo transformation. A hand sketched drawing was created to combine the two animals, then photoshop and 3D rendering were used to bring the hippo to life.

The car was shot and the lighting and positioning of the hippo was carefully adjusted for believability.

The video was launched to pet owners on Hill's Taiwan Facebook page to muster a thought in the audience’s mind, “your dog is not your dog anymore.”

This creative strategy to transform known pet forms into obese animals was central, from idea to execution, and ultimately impacted the media output.

The video was used as a positive reminder to take a second look at their own pets’ weight. The hippo not only created valuable interaction with people but at the same time brought the brand's mission of “to help enrich and lengthen the special relationship between people and their pets” to life.

This message was amplified by tapping into the fan base of Hill's Taiwan Facebook page.