PEDIGREE® launches campaign to honor mutts and change the meaning of the term in Brazil

Just as Brazil is turning its eyes to football, PEDIGREE® launches “PEDIGREE® Mutt,” a new national campaign that invites Brazilians to change the way they see mutts and celebrate mixed-breed dogs as symbols of love, belonging, and national pride. 

The campaign is a natural next step after the Caramelo platform, created by AlmapBBDO for PEDIGREE® in 2025, which put this instantly recognizable “breed” of mutt at the center of the conversation and helped make it one of the country’s most beloved icons. After going beyond the pet ecosystem and taking root in popular culture, on social media, in memes, products, public homages and conversations about national identity, now the Caramelo will star in a new chapter developed by the agency, a broader saga which speaks to the essence of being Brazilian.

Rather than focusing on a specific dog, “PEDIGREE® Mutt” highlights a collective sentiment: the pride, affection, and identification Brazilians feel toward mixed-breed dogs. The initiative underscores that every dog deserves care, respect, quality nutrition, and the chance to find a loving, responsible home, regardless of their breed.

“For over 17 years, PEDIGREE® has worked toward its goal of encouraging responsible adoption and providing greater visibility for mixed-breed dogs. Mutts are part of millions of Brazilians’ life stories, and we believe they should be upheld as symbols of affection, companionship, and pride. In this campaign, we want to pass along a very simple message: that every dog deserves love, care, and recognition, no matter their breed,” says Ricardo Marinho, Marketing Manager at PEDIGREE®.

To kick off the campaign, on June 12^th, Ronaldinho Gaúcho posted on his social media that “Brazil is a mutt”. The post sparked curiosity and spontaneous engagement among followers, the press, and content creators – and then the iconic footballer revealed that he was teaming up with PEDIGREE®.

The choice of Ronaldinho Gaúcho reinforces the campaign’s goal to connect two national symbols. One of the biggest names in Brazilian sporting history, recognized worldwide for his authenticity, joy, and spontaneity, meets the adorable mutt, which has made a home for itself in the national imaginary. 

With the conversation is heating up around football, Ronaldinho helps insert the campaign’s message and make it heard far and wide. His presence helps scale up the conversation and connects the initial, provocative message to one of the territories in which Brazil most sees itself and expresses itself culturally. 

“Ronaldinho represents authenticity, joy, and Brazilian pride. We wanted someone who could help us broaden the conversation in a genuine way. Just as mutts have found a special place in Brazilians’ hearts, Ronaldinho has formed a powerful bond with the nation. That connection makes all the sense in the world for our narrative,” adds Marinho.

“The new PEDIGREE® campaign frames the mutt as a true symbol of belonging and national pride,” says Camilla Massari, Chief Impact Officer and VP of Client Services and Business at AlmapBBDO. “By bringing on Ronaldinho Gaúcho, we connect his authenticity to the unique blend that defines both the Brazilian people and mixed-breed dogs. Our goal is to redefine the term in an affectionate light, transforming cultural identification into real impact for the cause of adoption and the brand’s business.” 

The campaign will also feature other content creators and beloved figures such as Péricles, Gil do Vigor, and Heloísa Périssé, who will join the conversation over the weeks to come, amplifying the campaign’s message and inviting the public to reflect on the symbolic, emotional, and cultural value that mutts hold in Brazil. 

Rather than a one-off initiative, “PEDIGREE® Mutt” represents the evolution of a proprietary creative platform that has gained traction and relevance both within the pet industry and beyond it. In 2025, PEDIGREE® put the Caramelo at the heart of Brazilian culture with a campaign created by AlmapBBDO, transforming an everyday mutt into the protagonist of a national conversation about love, responsible adoption, and pride.

The platform’s impact went well beyond the ad world, and was honored internationally at the 2025 Cannes Lions, one of the world’s biggest creativity festivals. The campaign brought home a Titanium Lion, one of the most important categories in the competition, as well as other awards, firmly establishing the Caramelo as a Brazilian success story of creativity, purpose, and cultural impact. 

Now, with “PEDIGREE® Mutt,” the brand is taking another step to open up the conversation: from the Caramelo as national icon to the mutt as a symbol of the Brazilian spirit, belonging, and pride. Within the same territory, this new campaign works to put a new, positive spin on the term “mutt” and reinforce that every dog, purebred or no, deserves care, respect, quality nutrition, and a chance at finding a loving home. 

By celebrating the mutt as a symbol of affection, belonging, and pride, PEDIGREE® reaffirms its legacy of fighting for mixed-breed dogs and shows how a brand can make a cause into a relevant cultural conversation. The campaign underscores the brand’s commitment to keep helping more dogs find loving homes and making them seen, valued, cared for, and recognized by Brazilians.