What it had to solve
PetSafe needed a follow-up to the 2016 Catspiracy film to keep promoting the ScoopFree Self-Cleaning Litter Box.
The idea
Paranoid cats 'reveal' the ScoopFree self-cleaning litter box is proof humans harvest cat poo for profit — sold on 'the black turd market'.
How it works
New 15/30/90-second spots with a nervous British Shorthair narrator named Cindy Clawford, meme social posts, and a spoof conspiracy site with starry backgrounds and flashing gifs.
What it did
The original film reached nearly 3 million YouTube views; the sequel launched February 1, 2018 on YouTube and Facebook with a meme program running on social and Catspiracy.com.
Background
Brand invention agency Humanaut and pet-gear maker PetSafe promoted the ScoopFree Self-Cleaning Litter Box with a running joke: the device is so good at keeping boxes fresh that the cats of the world believe it is proof of a global conspiracy in which humans harvest cat poo for profit. The 2016 'Catspiracy' film drew nearly 3 million YouTube views, and commenters asked for a sequel.
Catspiracy 2.0 launched February 1, 2018 on YouTube and Facebook in 15-, 30- and 90-second cuts. A nervous British Shorthair narrator — "Cindy Clawford" — and her paranoid pals theorize that Area 51 is really "Area No. 2", the moon ("The Night Ball") is a giant sub-zero poo store, and aliens are probably in on it. Humanaut also made Catspiracy memes and a spoof conspiracy site with starry backgrounds and flashing all-caps gifs telling cats to "WAKE UP!"
Why it lands
The product's benefit — never touching litter — is literally the cats' nightmare, so the cats narrating the ads writes itself.
The first film's 3 million views and sequel demands proved the world had legs worth investing in again.
Conspiracy-site design cues made the spoof shareable as content, not just watchable as an ad.
What you can take
A good brand-world joke can renew itself: give the conspiracy a sequel and let the comment section write your brief
Since then
ScoopFree is sold through PetSmart, Amazon, Petco, Chewy, petsafe.com and other retailers. The campaign site Catspiracy.com stayed online as the hub for the cats' theories.
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