Battersea organises virtual pitch invasion of AI dogs to promote adoption
A new rescue dog adoption campaign is appealing to gamers by recreating a selection of dogs in live video games.
In an effort to encourage gamers into adopting a rescue dog, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and Pedigree have made AI generated copies of actual dogs and modded them into a football game.
Eight dogs made an appearance during a livestreamed match of a game on Twitch, streaking across the pitch, much to the surprise of viewers.
Battersea and Pedigree haven't specifically stated which football game it's used for this promotional campaign, but you have to assume it was either EA Sports FC 25 or Konami's eFootball.
You can see individual clips of the AI dogs over on Dailymotion, all of which have real life counterparts that are currently available for adoption.
This comes amid research conducted by Pedigree that says 32% of Gen Z gamers, aged 18 to 30, have already adopted a rescue dog while 85% would consider it. By comparison, when non-gaming members of Gen Z were surveyed, 70% says they'd consider it.
'Owning a dog can be incredibly rewarding but does require a lot of commitment, training and patience – all things that are needed for gaming too,' says Battersea Dogs & Cats Rehoming Manager Sofia Papaloizou.
'Rescue dogs are incredibly special and it's great to hear that so many gamers are already enjoying the wonderful companionship of a rescue pet. We hope that this campaign will not only help find a home for the dogs involved but also showcase how unique every rescue dog is and inspire more people to consider adoption when looking to get a pet in the future.' More Trending
According to Pedigree brand director Ed Owen, part of the goals for this gamer-centric campaign is to also clear up misconceptions about dog ownership, which is assumed to be why less than half of Gen Z (48%) have adopted a dog of their own.
'At Pedigree, championing rescue dogs is part of our purpose and our DNA, we've broken new ground with this campaign by creating canine avatars to reach new potential pet parents,' says Owen.
'Whilst this campaign has a fun side, there is a serious purpose behind it all – we want as many rescue dogs to be rehomed as possible to the right home and to challenge the misconceptions young people have of the sorts of dogs in rescue centres like Battersea.'
The campaign's official website includes links to information for the eight dogs featured in the game mod. At the time of writing, one of them has already been adopted.
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