The archive · Public & Social · Marketing decision · 1999
House Hippo: a fake ad about a tiny pet teaches Canadian kids to doubt TV
Concerned Children's Advertisers fakes a nature film about a house-dwelling hippo so kids learn ads can trick them — a beloved 1999 Canadian PSA.
Concerned Children's Advertisers
What it had to solve
In 1999, Concerned Children's Advertisers — a coalition of Canadian advertisers and broadcasters — wanted children to think critically about what they saw on television. Instead of lecturing, it produced a parody of the nature-film style Canadians recognized from Hinterland's Who's Who.
How it works
In 1999, Concerned Children's Advertisers — a coalition of Canadian advertisers and broadcasters — wanted children to think critically about television. Its solution was a fake documentary in the style of the nature shorts Canadians knew from Hinterland's Who's Who, presenting a new species: the North American house hippo, a tiny creature that nests in old mittens and feeds on chips and peanut butter.
The deadpan spot showed the hippo scampering around an ordinary home. Only at the end did the camera pull back to reveal the footage playing on a television, with a message explaining that the house hippo does not exist and that ads can play tricks on you. The trick was the lesson: children experienced how convincing a fabricated message can feel.
The hippo became a beloved Canadian symbol — so convincing that many young viewers briefly believed the creature was real, which only proved the ad's point. Two decades later, in October 2019, MediaSmarts brought the house hippo back for its 'Break the Fake' campaign, updating the lesson from TV commercials to misinformation online.
Why it lands
- A familiar nature-documentary style made the fake feel trustworthy — children had to experience being fooled to learn the lesson.
- The cuteness of the hippo created affection first, so the reveal surprised instead of lecturing.
- Running as a free public-service spot put the lesson inside the ad breaks children were being taught to question.
- The character's charm let the message outlive the campaign and return for the fake-news era.
What it did
The house hippo became a beloved Canadian symbol of media literacy, remembered by generations of viewers; the trick was so convincing that many children briefly believed the creature was real, which proved the ad's own point. In 2019 MediaSmarts brought the hippo back to teach fact-checking in the age of fake news.
What you can take
Show the trick instead of describing it: when children experience how convincing a fake can feel, the lesson about media skepticism sticks far better than a lecture telling them ads lie.
Since then
The house hippo became part of Canadian childhood — discussed, remembered and occasionally believed — and the spot outlived its creators, who dissolved in 2017. In 2019 MediaSmarts revived the hippo for its 'Break the Fake' campaign, pointing the same lesson at online misinformation and building classroom resources around it for Media Literacy Week.
Sources
- The North American house hippo is back — and ready to tackle fake news
- Advertising concerns: A retrospective look at Canadian public service announcements
- Those tiny hippos in your house? They're back to teach us about 'fake news'
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