WeatherTech puts its Super Bowl focus on pets, rather than products

For the past five years, thermoformer and injection molder MacNeil Automotive Products Ltd.'s WeatherTech brand has been part of the world's biggest football game, airing ads featuring its "Made in the U.S." story and products.

Last year, it added a second ad, focused on a new line of pet products and featuring CEO David MacNeil's own dog, a golden retriever named Scout.

Bolingbrook, Ill.-based MacNeil Automotive and its crew was on set this summer, filming what was probably going to become its Super Bowl commercial, when staff and crew found out that Scout had collapsed.

Veterinarians found a tumor on the top-right chamber of his heart that resulted in the leaking of blood. They recommended that MacNeil have Scout put down.

But when David MacNeil walked into the veterinary clinic and saw Scout wagging his tail, he knew he couldn't go through with it. "He is a very happy 6-year-old golden retriever," MacNeil said.

So he took Scout to the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where MacNeil says they implemented an aggressive treatment program.

WeatherTech's original Super Bowl plan had been to do another "Made in America" commercial, said Jac Mansour, chief creative officer at Pinnacle Advertising, WeatherTech's agency of record. "But David said, 'No, we are going to tell Scout's story.'"

"I think people have seen enough of that," MacNeil said, referring to WeatherTech's long history of promoting how its products are made in the U.S. and how it helps employ workers here. "So I thought, let's invest our energy to really do something to help animals, which also helps people."

The result is a 30-second spot that will air in the second quarter of the Feb. 2 game that touches on the treatment Scout received and research being conducted at the university.

It's certainly not a traditional Super Bowl ad. For one, the spot mentions WeatherTech only in passing and shows none of its products. It does have a brief glimpse of Scout walking the show floor from the 2019 ad.

Ad Age went behind the scenes of the filming of the ad, which took place in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and at the School of Veterinary Medicine. Ad Age is a sister publication of Plastics News.

The spot essentially serves as the "ultimate thank you to the staff, not just for what they did for Scout, but what they do for animals every day," said Fiona Noone, director of marketing for WeatherTech. The goal is also to educate people on the university's capabilities in the hopes that Super Bowl viewers will donate money.

A link that will be promoted through the ad provides information on Scout's progress as well as a donation portal.

MacNeil said he thought about taking the $6 million or so the company spent on the Super Bowl ad and just giving it to the university. "But I think in this situation, using such an audience Super Bowl has, we can amplify that investment into helping animals," he said.

"Even if the cancer comes back with a vengeance and takes his life, he will still live on with a commercial and Scout's life will have meant something. And he, as a dog, would have accomplished something."