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As one of the Silver Anvil finalists, we had the opportunity to talk to Tom Lindell, who worked with Nestle Purina on their Project Pet Slimdown.

Beginning the conversation by giving us some stats (did you know more than 50 percent of pets are overweight??), Tom talked about how pet obesity mimics our lifestyles and how the epidemic is much larger than human beings.

It’s as simple as feeding them too much food (or giving them table scraps), but also not getting them the exercise they need.

So, working with Nestle Purina, they started a program to address obesity in pets. They discovered it’s a challenge to address this with pet owners and that people need support and encouragement from both veterinarians and friends. But that they also needed the solutions and inspiration to address the issue with their pets.

Project Pet Slimdown did two things: helped vets talk about the topic with their clients and provide pet owners the tools they need to help their furry children lose weight.

A series of webisodes followed pet owners along a three-month – which showed success, struggles, and weigh-ins – a Fighting Pet Obesity page on Facebook, and other social media helped to tell the story.

When we asked Tom the three things other PR pros can take away from this campaign, he said:

1. Tap into cultural relevance;

2. Inspire people vs. berate them; and

3. Recognize it isn’t easy and that it takes time to change the conversation around an issue.

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