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What is shaping culture? Pet parents
17 Feb 2020
I explore the edges of culture and how things are changing, providing valuable insights for brands wanting to understand who and what is shaping culture. Today, I explore the phenomenon of "pet parents": people who have transformed their relationships with their pets to that of 'kids'.
Image source: Gallo/Getty Images.
Our relationships with animals have evolved over the last decade or so with many more people becoming more empathetic when it comes to our four-legged or scaly or feathery friends.
Granted, everyone has a grandmother or aunt who so loved animals she left a sizeable portion of her estate to the local SPCA when she died – or simply took in so many strays, her home was over-run when she was alive – but by-and-large as a society two or three decades ago, we primarily viewed animals as labourers or entertainers.
Today, many more of us view animals as sentient beings with emotions and feelings which not only matter but benefit us personally should we engage with them in an empathetic manner.
Recent studies show that pets, most notably dogs, of people who are stressed out or anxious, synchronise the stress markers of their owners, meaning that the pet feels the same amount of stress that the owner does, at the same time. This feeling of being connected to and having his stress alleviated by his pets is true of rat dad, Felix.
As we have become more parental in the relationship between us and our animals, so has our level of expenditure and desire to give them treats and special treatment. BowHaus Doggy Daycare & Sleep-over Centre, based in Woodstock in Cape Town and offering a dramatically different experience to kennels of old, has seen and been a part of this change.
And part of loving someone or something is showing this love and spending money of them or it. Pet care is big business, and not necessarily affected by global fiscal fluctuations, as pet parents continue to show the love even in the hard times. From toys, snacks, psychologists and masseurs to high luxury clothing products, the list of products for sale is endless. Beer or wine for your furry friend? Yes, it’s available. Pet care books, too, contribute to the incredibly large pet care market, expected to top $269bn by 2025.
And ‘Petfluencers’ like @fletcher_schnauzer and @joffypom have become powerful entities in the marketing industry, with massive followings and huge endorsement deals.
One person who couldn’t care less about the industry and just loves his dogs is DJ Grimehouse. He didn’t grow up in an environment where dogs were just yard protectors and the word ‘pet’ was never used. But, today, his dogs are the most important people in his life.
Dog daddy, Adrian Naidoo (@VeganGymBro on Instagram) also has an incredibly close relationship with his dogs, Aries and Apollo, who ‘saved his life’. “The relationship between a pet owner and their pet completely transcends what it is. It becomes a soul-to-soul connection. I am firmly of the belief that, when you seek out a pet, you don’t choose it, the pet chooses you and comes into your life for a very specific reason. Either they need to teach you something, or you need to teach them something.”
About Brett Rogers
Brett Rogers, culture lead at Cape Town advertising agency HaveYouHeard and content curator for In_, a channel of content, which showcases cultural forces that are changing the world. It aims to inform, inspire and entertain the viewer and does so with multimedia posts, including podcasts, videos, google trends, mini Q+A's and more. in_ talks to those interested in in-depth cultural exploration and those curious about the world we live in.
