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Sock Dogma - Pets.com's Sock Puppet - Statistical Data Included

Brandweek, June 5, 2000 by Adrienne Mand

From the doghouse to the penthouse, Pets.com's irreverent spokessock has been through it all--and lived to tell about it. But will the Sock Puppet bite the hand that feeds him?

Just a year ago, he was a down on his luck stray, having been kicked out of a doggy manners school--a mere sweat sock in a world of Versace-covered feet. Now the Pets.com Sock Puppet is a pop culture phenom, with his likeness featured as a 36-foot "falloon" (that's a float-slash-balloon combo) in last fall's Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, as well as on seemingly countless billboards across the country.

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Having already represented San Francisco-based e-tailer Pets.com in 13 television commercials, not to mention numerous print and outdoor advertisements, the Sock Puppet has nimbly scaled the rarified heights of celebrity, enough to attend the 2000 Academy Awards ceremony.

Not since Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy broke through the once "humans-only" club of superstardom has a puppet received as much fanfare and adulation, with profiles on Access Hollywood and Nightline, as well as coverage in mainstream media outlets such as Entertainment Weekly, Time and People magazines.

But perhaps his biggest splash came during the second quarter of Super Bowl XXXIV, when this self-professed "regular Sock" starred in the memorable Pets.com commercial, pleading in his signature plaintive voice to pet owners everywhere, "Please, don't go." The spot scored the No. 1 recall ranking for the lowest media investment during the game, according to Internet market research firm Active Research.

A superstar was born.

For whatever reason, the Sock Puppet has struck a chord with both pet-owning and non-pet-owning Americans. According to Pets.com reps, the company has received nearly 10,000 e-mails and phone calls to date about the Sock Puppet since October 1999. Perhaps we are enamored with his button eye, his wry sense of humor and his uncanny ability to speak to pets and humans with equal aplomb. In fact, the Sock Puppet has become more than mere spokessock for a dot-com. He has transformed into a cross-species liaison.

If you think this now-famous poly-blend pooch is simply riding the wave of fame without regard for its consequences, you'd be wrong. In between indulging his love of parasailing, longboarding and imbibing Fresca, the Sock Puppet has made it his mission to help less fortunate pets through Pets.commitment, Pets.com's philanthropic program aiding animals. As the Pets.com campaign by TBWA/Chiat/Day San Francisco is honored by Adweek's IQ News as Best Offline Campaign for an Online Brand, we chatted with the brown-and-white moppet who has single-handedly made wearing a Timex fashionable again.

IQ: How you were discovered by Pets.com.

Sock Puppet: Remember how Lana Turner was discovered in an ice cream parlor? It was just like that, only totally different.

You've been the Pets.com spokespuppet since 1999, but your life was not always so charmed. Tell me how your experiences of escaping from a coin-operated washing machine, touring with a professional arm wrestling circuit and getting kicked out or a doggy manners school prepared you for your current gig?

I'm not gonna lie. I've had a tough make-believe life. But I'm stronger because of it.

As the company notes, "Pets can't drive." You yourself have failed the licensing exam three times and you're trying now for a fourth. Though it would essentially put you out of a Job, do you envision a world where pets are free to operate motor vehicles on the road to self-sufficiency?

I envision a day when an iguana driving an 18-wheeler will wave to a hamster driving an SUV. That will be a good day.

Any chance you'll work your parasalling and longboarding skills into future TV spots?

I've been trying to get them to shoot in Hawaii so I can talk to island pets. (Laughs) They can see right through that plan.

In what ways are you a role model for other socks and sock puppets In America? Is It a burden at times?

Because of my eye defect--I have 20/3000 vision in my right eye--I've proven that you can overcome anything if you put your mind to it.

Can you offer any advice for those young, regular tube socks out there who dream of following In your footsteps as a spokepuppet?

Go to South America. There's plenty of work down there for ambitious socks.

Tell me if or how were you influenced by other famous puppets, such as Lamb Chop or, say, any of the Muppets?

They taught me that if you can synch up your hand motions with your voice, you can own the world.

Well, speaking of owning the world, in addition to all of the media coverage you've received in recent months, you've also been featured on both Good Morning America and Live with Regis and Kathle Lee. So who would you rather take long walks in the park with: Diane Sawyer, Kathle Lee Gifford or the Reege?

It totally depends on which park you're talking about.

Fame and fortune have come suddenly into your life, yet you still rent the same modest wood drawer you've been living in before your success. You're sort of the Jerry Yang of the super-rich sockpuppet set. Have you splurged on anything since you became the Pets.com representative?

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Sock Dogma - Pets.com's Sock Puppet - Statistical Data Included

Brandweek, June 5, 2000 by Adrienne Mand

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