Does anyone else get a little bit annoyed at Pedigrees over the top smugness at 'donating' to the Dogs Trust?

If you read the small print at the bottom of the screen it states that (a mere) 1p per product sold goes to the trust. A pathetic amount from such a huge company!

They are just hoping that by playing on the heartstrings of guilible people they will get more sales. I dont feed their product to my lot (sorry to offend any die-hard Pedigree fans!), good ol' James Wellbeloved and nature diet all the way for me thanks!

It just makes my blood boil that they do the whole "look at poor Patch, but its ok because we will donate to him and others like him, everytime you spend upteen pounds on our foods...."

Aaaarrggghhhh!

Ok soap box moment over :)

Oh I don't know.  When a company is as big as Pedigree (remember it owns loads of other dog food companies too) 1p per product sold would add up to quite an amount!  I don't feed Pedigree either ;-)

Debs

I saw the advert and thought that too. I dont buy their products either as there are more ethical companys around. But the average person watching will think awww look at those dogs, i'll just buy that extra thing from them and i'm doing my bit. The only thing they are doing is lining pedigrees pockets, prehaps a small amount will go to those well deserving dogs but i would just give a donation direct as that will have more of an impact imo

Yep I think those that wouldnt normally buy Pedigree should definately use their noggins and donate direct.
Lets face it you could spend tens of pounds on sacks/tins food you dont use(and could possibly give your beloved pooches upset tummys/reactions to it), or you could donate the same amount of money as a one off gift and do way more good for the charity.
The promo only runs for a very short time so for the handful of pennies you would donate by buying the food you could actually be of use and give a decent amount by direct donation.

They may be a big company and 1p an item sold  may generate a large donation, the fact remains though the company is doing it to generate more sales, hence more profit for it self.

Sorry but isnt that the reason  any company sells their product. Why should they sell at a loss no other company does or they don't stick around very long.
A short campaign like this may achieve an increase in profits for the company concerned but it is also raising awareness of the GP, as well as the 1p on each product sold.
No I dont use the company's products

Oh and Pugnut - just so you're aware of it - Pedigree owns James Wellbeloved.  So by feeding JW you're lining Pedigree's pocket too ;-)

Debs

It's common practice. There are adverts (can't remember what for - something to do with babies) where they say that for every product sold a vaacine will be donated for a Third World child (or something along those lines). The small print then says that the monetary value of the donation is something less than 1p.

I am aware of the subsidiary link between mars/masterfoods and crown petfoods, lets face it a stand alone company is a rare thing these days.
I feed JW because of the ingredients and quality, which you dont find in pedigrees more 'face-of-the-company' dog food brand.
I was mainly stating the smugness of the marketing in comaprison the the percentage given as a donation(when you think of the mark up on these products), which I find oh so slightly irksome.
Im not here to start a moral war, just passing comment on a very irritating advert! :)

Says here they have already raised £101,000 and are aiming to raise £500,000

http://www.pedigreeadoptiondrive.com/adopt/

which is good, but you've got to think how much they would have made if they gave 5p, or 10p... lots of saved and happy dogs.

Sorry but isnt that the reason  any company sells their product. Why should they sell at a loss no other company does or they don't stick around very long.

Many companies sell products as a loss, the supermarkets in particular, they're called loss leaders and their sole purpose is to get people through the doors and buy other stuff because they've made a saving, I run a B&B and I sell cheap at certain times of the year, its a loss leader but I never make a loss, of that I can assure you ;)

At least they are doing something, rather than nothing, don't you think? But yes, the advert is annoying, I agree.

Yes I understand loss leaders being in the industry :-) but isnt it therefore just the same kind of thing good marketing  with the side effect of actually giving something back. As I say why shouldnt they make a profit? Its a buisness.

Of course it business, no dispute, just like the campaign is business, you say good marketing with the side effect of giving something back, I say good marketing by cynically pulling on the public's heart strings.

Just two views of the same picture that's all :)

Personally, I'd have more respect for their advert if they gave info as to where most of the dogs in rescue come from (ie. what kind of breeder) and why they are handed in, and how to avoid the same issues.  That way maybe fewer dogs would be ending up in rescue in the first place ;)

I find most of pedigree's advertising cynical - remember the ad for the chews that miraculously meant that an old dog could walk again?  Good chews those, they even changed the weather - the sun came out!!

just so you're aware of it - Pedigree owns James Wellbeloved.

yep and since they have the price of JWB has gone way high! and the quality way down...well in the opinion of my dog cos it used to be great food but now it makes her sick! Even though the ingredients look the same they must have changed something in the ingredients.

I don't even feed my dogs Pedigree when they win the food for free cos it makes them sick. But I think it's good they donate some of their profit and they are very good at sponsorship.  Lots of dogs must eat the food and be fine on it ..people must like smelly poo and dandruff. ;)

slightly off subject here, but I had NO idea Pedigree now own JW!!!  I'm shocked!!!

AND Royal Canin but I am total Royal Canin will continue to run as they are.

> slightly off subject here, but I had NO idea Pedigree now own JW!!!  I'm shocked!!!

Masterfoods (Mars UK) has a majority holding in Crown Pet Foods (which owns the JWB and Royal Canin brands) and also owns Pedigree. So it's really more accurate to say that Pedigree and James Wellbeloved both come under the umbrella of the same big corporation, Masterfoods (Mars UK) rather than that Pedigree owns JWB. Masterfoods have fingers in a lot of pies ;-)