Ogilvy’s ‘Pets of War’ Illustrated Campaign Highlights the Plight of Dogs Orphaned in Ukraine

International campaign aims to gather donations to send in veterinarians, food, water, and medical supplies to shelters in Ukraine

As millions of people have fled Ukraine to escape the destruction of war, they are not just leaving their homes but, in many cases, are forced to leave behind their four-legged family members. As a result, an estimated 1.2 million dogs have been orphaned in Ukraine. These dogs have unjustly fallen victim to human conflict. They need shelter, food, and medical attention. People all over the world want to lend a hand and support these pets, but they don’t know how to help so Ogilvy Health launched a campaign ‘Pets of War’ to help turn empathy into action.

Ogilvy Health partnered with FOUR PAWS on an international campaign to raise awareness about the group’s efforts to help these precious pets. The core visual illustrates a helping hand extended to a dog in Ukraine, telegraphing the idea that anyone can help pets orphaned by war from anywhere. We partnered with Four Paws to feature the visual in an international campaign aimed at gathering donations to send in veterinarians, food, water, and medical supplies to shelters in Ukraine. People can donate at petsofwar.org.

Adam Hessel, chief creative officer, North America for Ogilvy Health, said, “We were looking for ways to visually marry together the magnitude and destruction of war with a positive symbol of hope. In reviewing the potential background visuals, we looked to find images of war-torn Ukraine that showed perspective and depth, detailing some of the vast devastation in the country, but also setting the stage for the illustrations to show how anyone has the ability to help from anywhere in the world. The images were carefully chosen to allow that concept to come through.”

As to the origin of this campaign, he added: “Ogilvy Health does a great deal of work in the pet healthcare space and we have a love and passion for animals – including our own – so when we saw the number of pets being left behind, and realised the ongoing situation was getting increasingly worse, we were compelled to do something to have an impact by bringing awareness to the fact that there is a way to help.”