São Paulo, March 2025 – Last weekend, PEDIGREE®, a world leader in dog food, hosted the first dog show exclusively for mixed-breed dogs. The “Caramelo Show,” held in São Paulo as part of PEDIGREE®’s “Caramelo” campaign, celebrated Caramelo mutts and their four-legged friends, and included an adoption fair in partnership with the Instituto Ampara Animal. During the initiative, developed alongside AlmapBBDO, five dogs found families, reinforcing the brand’s goal of ensuring that all pets find loving, responsible homes.
The Caramelo Show’s interactive, welcoming structure provided dog lovers with a variety of experiences. One of the most moving moments came as mutts were paraded through the event space while an announcer told the stories of their pre-shelter lives and introduced them to the audience, presenting their names, weight, age, and personality. Attendees received plaques with distinctions such as “Pure Charm,” “100% Cute,” and “King/Queen of Charisma,” to celebrate the traits they most identified with.
Campaign ambassador Tatá Werneck was in attendance, and as soon as she arrived, she fell in love with Alice, a Caramelo who’d been rescued from an abusive home. Unlike the rest of the dogs, which spent the event happily playing and interacting, Alice had to sit on Ampara volunteers’ laps nearly the entire time. She was skittish and only felt safe while being held, likely due to trauma from her pre-rescue experiences. After deciding to adopt her, Tatá underwent an evaluation interview with the NGO team in order to be able to take Alice to her new home.
Tatá Werneck wasn’t the only one to leave the event with a new family member. By the end of the show, five dogs had been adopted, and each adopting family underwent a rigorous evaluation to make sure they were ready for the commitment. “The decision to adopt an animal must be taken with great responsibility and full awareness of what responsible care entails,” says Juliana Camargo, president of the Instituto Ampara Animal. “Our interviews are meant to evaluate potential adopters as well as the animal’s behavioral profile. Our greatest dream is to find new loving homes for our furry friends, but we’re extremely careful to avoid returns and abandonment, which cause real suffering for the animals.” After the adoption agreement was signed, each pet received a kit from PEDIGREE® with essential items for their new lives, as well as a booklet advising caregivers about their vaccine schedule and first days at home, among other information.
The Caramelo Show is part of the “Caramelo” campaign, a playful, sensitive approach to putting mutts at the heart of the push for responsible adoption. With this initiative, PEDIGREE® reaffirms its mission to provide a better life for all pets, regardless of breed.
Beyond the dog show, the brand has partnered with DNA Pets to sponsor a groundbreaking genetic study of 350 Caramelo mutts, in order to establish the physical, genetic, and health traits they all share. The campaign also includes the creation of the Caramelo Kennel Club, a community supported by PEDIGREE® and designed to bring loving caregivers and their Caramelos together and provide access to exclusive content, news, adoption events, and more.
