• by Les Luchter , August 6, 2025

VEG ER for Pets, a growing chain of emergency facilities, is emphasizing the…er… “ER” part of its name in the brand’s first integrated ad campaign.

”VEG the Kind-ER, Bett-ER ER for pets,” declare video spots (here and here) from Yard NYC that are running on Hulu, YouTube TV, Meta and NextDoor.

Using such lines as “Drooly to Drooly-ER” and “Grouchy to Grouchy-ER,” each ad shows a variety of pets engaged in “Weird to Weird-ER” behavior – not only dogs and cats, but also a chameleon (“Slow to Slow-ER”) and bunny (“Thumpy to Thumpy-ER”).

“If you don’t know what’s wrong,” recommend the spots, “know where to go.”

In addition, the campaign includes digital and print out-of-home installations in New York City, Boston, New Jersey, Washington, DC, Kansas and Rhode Island. 

Broadcast TV will join the media mix next year, with the campaign also including social and experiential elements over an expected run of at least four years, Yard NYC  tells Marketing Daily. Media buying is handled by Eden Collective.

The brand says the campaign’s success will be measured by “increased visits to hospitals, mainly via calls, as well as brand awareness.”

VEG ER, founded in 2014 as Veterinary Emergency Group, now has some 100 locations nationwide and expects to open another 20 by next year.

VEG competes in what is called an “increasingly crowded category,” with competitors including general/private practice practitioners (e.g., local vets),walk-in/urgent care facilities (e.g., Bond Vet) and specialty ER facilities: (e.g, Blue Pearl, Medvet).

Each spot’s visuals end with a shot of a VEG employee and pet owner with their pets in a VEG waiting room.

But, unlike at other emergency rooms, both pet and human, VEG patients are seen first before that waiting room experience. “Once animals are seen/diagnosed/stable, pet parents can either wait in a comfortable area while their animal is being treated or stand right next to their animal the entire time,” Yard NYC says. “The waiting room scene at the end of the film is more of a goodbye consultation moment, to round out the content.”