Apparently setting up accounts for your cute pets on Instagram and Vine is a thing.
It’s also a thing that people follow said accounts.
To complete the trifecta, brands pay big money for sponsored content from four-legged Insta-celebs. In fact, many of these pets make significantly more money than you ever will.
“We have clients who are making $200 per post, and we have clients who are making $20,000 per post,” Loni Edwards, founder of The Dog Agency tells the Wall Street Journal.
This is a good point to pause for a second while we all question our life decisions.
Edwards explains that at The Dog Agency, they’re selective about the brands they pair particular dogs to. I mean, it should be obvious to us all that a doberman wearing a Bieber sweater is just ridiculous.
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But, the agency does pair a fair amount of dogs to a ridiculous amount of content. Take Knox, for example, the admittedly cute — but decidedly under-qualified to make more money than me — dog recently made bank by promoting Hallmark’s ‘Kitten Bowl’ (apparently also a thing) on Instagram.
Pets are such a hot commodity for sponsored content now that it’s probably only a matter of time before the FTC starts peeking around to ensure that sponsored posts are tabled “sponsored” or “advertisement” per its guidelines.
Knox appears to be in the clear, but one three character hashtag in a sea of others isn’t the easiest to spot. Remember, Kim Kardashian — the human version of a poodle — has recently drawn ire from the FDA over obvious sponsored content that omitted all risk information required for these types of advertisements.
Knox, if you’re reading this from your iPad pro while taking a bubble bath in Dom Pérignon, hit me up if you ever need a ghost writer for your memoirs.
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