• by Sarah Mahoney , Yesterday

Bored with the endless discourse about AI-generated creative? Bark’s counterprogramming is delightfully analog: it handed the reins — and a GoPro — to a dog.

The pet-products brand just debuted “Merry Chaos,” a holiday ad directed by Mia, an Australian shepherd–pitbull mix with more energy than restraint.

Her footage captures Christmas exactly as most dog owners know it: toppled tree, ambushed dinner table, frantic sprints toward anything wrapped and vaguely chewable.

Cute gimmick, sure. But it delivered. A Bark spokesperson tells Marketing Daily the spot, which aired November 1–23 on NBC and other networks, reached 778,000 households and generated 1.2 million impressions, 48,000 site visits and 1,700 purchases.

An A/B test of a holiday-themed home page featuring the ad produced a 14% lift in conversions for the BarkBox subscription and a 20% lift for Super Chewer, the subscription to "tough toys" for "the most accomplished chompers." Those are meaningful numbers during what’s typically a crowded and predictable holiday retail window.

The spot also ran on social channels and anchors the company’s “Dogs Own The Holidays” campaign, created with Tombras.

True to the concept, the shoot reportedly ran over budget thanks to shredded carpets, chewed GoPros and a director who refused to stay on her mark. “This wasn’t about control,” said Jeff Benjamin, Tombras’ chief creative officer, in the announcement. “It was about surrender. And occasionally letting the director lick the lens.”

The campaign sits nicely in Bark’s recent brand pivot. In August, the company appointed Hendrix — a three-legged supermutt from Orlando — as its first “chairdog,” and has since been positioning itself as “co-owned by dogs.”

Internally, the company is framing this as a move toward more dog-led storytelling that feels instinctive and credible to pet owners.

And yes, the star is already entertaining sequel offers. “Mia has shown interest in future directing work,” the spokesperson tells Marketing Daily via email. “She proved she has strong creative instincts and a clear point of view, even if her process involves frequent naps and chewed props.”