American Honda Motor Company, Inc., Acura Division: Leonard The Dog campaign

William Baue

According to Atlanta Journal-Constitution staff writer Jeffry Scott in a 1993 article, the dog Leonard was the first animated character to introduce a car—the 1994 Acura Integra—but he was "not designed to be Snoopy," said art director Kevin McCarthy of Ketchum Advertising, Los Angeles, the ad agency for the American Honda Motor Company's upscale division.

American Honda Motor Company, Inc., Acura Division: Leonard The Dog campaign

William Baue

Overview

According to Atlanta Journal-Constitutionstaff writer Jeffry Scott in a 1993 article, the dog Leonard was the first animated character to introduce a car—the 1994 Acura Integra—but he was "not designed to be Snoopy," said art director Kevin McCarthy of Ketchum Advertising, Los Angeles, the ad agency for the American Honda Motor Company's upscale division. Animator Everett Peck drew Leonard with a sly look, and comedian Dennis Miller gave him a voice with an irreverent, sarcastic tone. Whereas Snoopy appealed to children and baby boomers,...

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands