...The Marketing Geniuses Who Came Up With That One

I’m sure some comedian already has a routine on this, but what’s up with pet food manufacturers advertising their products as “great tasting”? (Here’s just one example). Our puppy is strictly forbidden from going upstairs due to her propensity for eating cat turds straight out of the litter box. When I was a kid I begged my parents to let my golden retriever, Bart, sleep in my room, only to have him proceed to barf all over my bed. Not a major problem, though, since he went ahead and ate it all right back up.

Clearly, it doesn’t appear as if dogs have particularly discriminating tastes, so to advertise a product on the basis that it has a “great taste your dog will love” seems a bit disingenuous. Kind of like promoting a new beer with the promise it “provides the great buzz your alcoholic will love”.

Reminds me of a funny story: When I was maybe around 9 or 10, I came home from school one day to find my older brother sitting in the back room ravenously munching away on an afterschool snack. I mentioned to him that our parents had bought a new brand of dog food for Bart.

“I know”, he responded, his mouth still full of food. “It’s disgusting”.