Adopt Royalty - PetSmart Charities | Clapboard Ad Archive

PetSmart Charities’ 2023 film campaign Adopt Royalty, developed with Maximum Effort for the public service and pets market in the United States, smartly commandeers a central piece of pop-cultural currency by having comedian Dana Carvey reprise his renowned impersonation of King Charles III to urge audiences to adopt rather than buy their next family dog. The creative concept draws a witty connection between the newly crowned monarch and the much-loved Cavalier King Charles spaniel, repositioning shelter pets as deserving of royal treatment and underlining the urgent need to relieve America’s overcrowded shelters. This approach, which Clapboard’s 12-format taxonomy situates in FORMAT#8—Ongoing Characters or Celebrities, leverages Carvey’s celebrity persona and comedic style to cut through cause fatigue; the campaign never feels didactic because the humor is sharp, self-aware, and grounded in cultural reference, encouraging the audience to view adoption as not only compassionate but sophisticated and aspirational. By making King Charles III the spokesperson—for both rescue pets and regal standards—the agency sidesteps the sentimentality that often dominates animal welfare appeals, choosing instead to create an emotionally resonant but memorably distinctive communications asset. Maximum Effort’s execution reflects the studio’s now-signature blend of wit and purpose, aligning perfectly with PetSmart Charities’ longstanding role as a national catalyst for meaningful change in animal rescue and adoption. High-quality production values and a national launch helped the campaign rapidly scale visibility, amassing well over 767,000 views and driving clear calls to action across digital to a broad, socially engaged audience of potential adopters and donors. The campaign earns a 66/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. For the category, Adopt Royalty signals the creative territory that opens up when bold partnerships between nonprofits and entertainment-first agencies harness the borrowing power of pop culture with an intentional, mission-driven brief.