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American Morning

Scoop on Doggy Billboards

Aired April 12, 2002 - 08:57   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Just when you thought it was impossible to find an ad anyplace else, imagine products on the name -- products on the back of a lovable dog. That is only part of the sales pitch.

CNN's Jeanne Moos has the scoop on doggy billboards.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's one of those thankless jobs, so thankless only the very polite bother to say no thanks. Anyone who has tried handing out flyers in a big city knows the unwritten rule.

(on camera): What do you do when someone is handing out leaflets? When they try to give you a leaflet?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ignore them.

MOOS (voice-over): Whether they're from odd jobs or Blimpy's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bite the big one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Usually the people that pass out the fliers are not usually appealing actually.

MOOS: But now there's a new breed of leaf litter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're awfully cute.

MOOS: Meet Ling Ling, Amber, Plaxto and Claxton (ph), the first living, breathing, canine billboards.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would take anything from a dog, because they're so cute.

MOOS: Even an adult advertising brochure for an adult education outfit called The Learning Annex. One guy even bothered to read it.

The doggy billboards are being launched in Times Square, the epicenter of advertising.

TOM YU, K9 BILLBOARDS: Look at all the bill boards around us, and we are more effective.

MOOS: The dogs carry the leaflets or product samples and seduce passers by with everything from kisser to...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Paw. Paw. Paw.

MOOS: While the human hands out the fliers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I bet you like to have your ears rub, don't you?

MOOS: Even cops aren't immune.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're so nice, mommy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're so nice, and they're so cute.

It works, doesn't it?

MOOS: It's a little too soon to tell. Mark Vincey and his two partners from Rochester, New York cooked up canine billboards and are planning to launch a 17-city campaign using mostly certified therapy dogs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They love attention, and they love people, and those are the dogs that we hire.

MOOS (on camera): That's your competition. They're handing out leaflets with dogs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's great.

MOOS (voice-over): Advertisers can expect to pay $500 and up per dog per day.

MOOS (on camera): Any consideration about the doggy labor laws?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

MOOS (voice-over): Of course the dogs get breaks. Off come the vests, out comes the water. They get a little massage, maybe take 40 winks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm anti-dog billboard.

MOOS (on camera): Because?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I really feel like it's sort of prostituting the animal.

MOOS (voice-over): The K9 billboards sure didn't seem to mind being prostituted.

But if dogs can be billboards, what's next? What else would folks find irresistible?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Little babies.

MOOS: Babies are next? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes

MOOS: Billboard babies, that's an idea. You call that an idea? We call it half-cocked.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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