Over the past few years, tuning into the Puppy Bowl has become a favorite pastime each year on Super Bowl Sunday. This year, the 3-hour event will be marked with a special feature with First Lady Jill Biden and White House pups Champ and Major. At some point during Puppy Bowl XVII, a pre-filmed PSA will air aimed at encouraging mask-wearing in the months ahead.
The 30-second video shows First Lady Jill Biden seated by a fireplace in the White House with the First Family's two German shepherds, Champ and Major. "For a lot of us during this pandemic, our pets have been such a source of joy and comfort—and maybe a bark or two on a video conference. The unconditional love from a dog is one of the most beautiful things on earth, and we owe it to them to keep ourselves healthy," she says while petting the two dogs. After that, the First Lady holds up a mask and makes an appeal for pet owners to continue with mask-wearing to keep healthy, "even when you're out walking your dog." The video concludes with the audio of an affirmative bark.
Notably, Major, the Biden's youngest dog, is believed to be the first shelter-adopted dog to call the White House home and the Puppy Bowl's central purpose, beyond providing alternative entertainment on Super Bowl Sunday, is to raise awareness for pet adoption. This year's Puppy Bowl is set to feature 70 adoptable dogs from 22 shelters and rescues in nine northeastern states. According to Discovery.com, the Puppy Bowl is "16 for 16 with an adoption rate of 100%." Fittingly for Champ and Major's appearance in the event, four of the puppies in the "starting lineup" are German shepherd mixes.
Interestingly enough, this isn't the first time the White House—or even a First Lady—has gotten involved in the Puppy Bowl festivities with the goal of spreading a message. In 2014, former First Lady Michelle Obama appeared in a segment that aired during Puppy Bowl X with the Obama family's dogs, Sunny and Bo. Obama appeared alongside the First Family dogs, 13 shelter puppies and 12 first and second graders from D.C.'s Harriet Tubman Elementary to host the event's "training camp" on the White House lawn. The segment, which showcased "highlights" from the "training," was planned to support the First Lady's "Let's Move!" campaign, which aimed to fight the epidemic of childhood obesity.
In recent years, and in an increasingly diversified media space, White House communications staffers have looked to new ways to reach American audiences. Gone are the days where the White House press conference is the only way to get a message out, and certainly not to the everyday public. For that reason, it's not surprising that the First Lady's communications team would aim to capture the attention of Americans on a day where people are tuned into the television—especially while the country is spending more time at home than ever before.
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The move is equal parts fun for viewers who love to see the “First Dogs” in their new home and strategic. Just this morning, Communications Director for the First Lady, Elizabeth Alexander, tweeted out the news of the First Lady’s involvement in the television event with the words “Mask Up,” so it’s clear that getting this message out is important to the team. A recent poll suggests that 25% of sports fans still plan to gather for Super Bowl events despite the pandemic, so it’s not surprising to see the Biden administration aim to encourage safe behavior following the upticks in Covid cases after the holidays.
This year's Puppy Bowl will be available for streaming Sunday, February 7th, on discovery+ and on television via Animal Planet at 2 p.m. ESPN commentators Steve Levy and Sage Steele will provide commentary and Martha Stewart and Snoop Dog, alongside their own pets, will host.
The Link LonkFebruary 06, 2021 at 01:15AM
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erinspencer1/2021/02/05/first-lady-to-join-puppy-bowl-to-send-a-message/
First Lady To Join Puppy Bowl To Send A Message - Forbes
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