These pooches are paid thousands to advertise big brands. Photo / Instagram
These pooches are paid thousands to advertise big brands. Photo / Instagram
Big brands are known to be dogged in their pursuit of publicity.
The Women's Institute stripped off to sell calendars. Red Bull even dropped daredevil Felix Baumgartner from space.
Now, though, some companies are quite literally giving consumers paws for thought - by employing dogs and cats to promote their brands, reports the Daily Mail.
Pooches across the UK are being paid up to £100 an hour to star in ad campaigns, feature in pop videos and model in photoshoots for everything from Vogue to High Street fashion chains.
The big draw for advertisers is that the chosen animals already have thousands of followers, with high-profile social media pages set up by their canny owners.
While celebrities can still earn millions to front campaigns, more subtle forms of promotion are now widespread throughout the internet.
Young 'vloggers' such as Zoella act as ambassadors for brands and mention them in posts, while Instagram and Twitter give advertisers access to 'influencers' who can promote products instantly to followers.
The trend has led to the emergence of casting agencies for the most ambitious pets and owners.
Melody Lewis, who set up PetLondon Models, said: "It's amazing how quickly these animals take off."
The key, says Layla Flaherty, who runs pet casting agency Urban Paws, is that animals are generally more popular than human celebrities.
"You'd be hard pushed to find an advert with a cute chihuahua or kitten annoying," she said.
Meet the pups bringing in the big bucks...
• Dolly Pawton
Instagram followers: 71,000 Can earn: £10,000 ($19,000) a year
Described as the fashionista of Instagram, two-year-old chihuahua Dolly is also an LGBT activist, with fans on both sides of the Atlantic.
She is signed to a top US agency and has worked with Selfridges, Benefit Cosmetics, Sudio Headphones and Daniel Wellington watches, with features in People magazine and Vogue.
She will even have her own float at the gay street festival London Pride this year.
Dolly is owned by London fashion stylist Lucy London, 39, and writer Stella Clements, 34, who left her job to run Dolly's Instagram feed when it took off 18 months ago.
Stella said: "Dolly has so much personality and likes to push boundaries. She loves dressing up and posing. She's outspoken and fun, and helps convey the LGBT message."
• Lil Belle and King
Instagram followers: 600 Can earn: £75 ($140) a day
King the bulldog in the DJ Fresh vs Diplo music video. Photo / YouTube, Vevo
Lil Belle and her fellow bulldogs have helped earn owner Karen Chamberlain about £10,000 a year.
As well as appearing on Britain's Got Talent, Come Dine With Me and Celebrity Big Brother, they've helped campaigns for SunLife and estate agents Purple Bricks.
Dachshund Dobby found instant social media fame when a picture of him as a puppy, wearing a bow on his head, went viral.
He was soon fielding requests from brands like online retailer BooHoo. Owner Frances Bott, 25, an admin worker from the West Midlands, said: "It just went crazy."
"We set up his Instagram so we could show off his puppy photos, then the next thing he had an agent!"
Dobby, who has a devoted following on Instagram, has modelled for the Next catalogue and is the face of Doxie watches.
• Suki
Instagram followers: 27,000 Can earn: £100 ($188) an hour
Suki is a fashionista pug and lifestyle blogger - according to her London owners Bradley Stephens and Micky Johnson.
She critiques her owner's outfits in a satirical blog. Her style, always with her tongue out, has proved popular with brands such as ASOS, Jimmy Choo, Urban Outfitters, Next, Kurt Geiger and Topman.
PR worker Bradley, 23, explained: "We are sent clothes for us to wear and the captions are Suki talking.
"It means she's doing something different to the many other dog influencers out there."
• Lilliput
Instagram followers: 86,000 Can earn: £100 ($188) an hour
The most-followed Maltese dog in the world was 'discovered' at a dog show seven years ago - where she was taking part in a fish treat-eating competition.
