Christopher Guest directed via production house GO this PetSmart :30, titled “New Parents,” which debuted on Sunday’s Oscar telecast. Conceived by agency GSD&M, the spot finds a timid set of first-time pet parents cautiously doting on their duo of adopted puppies when an uninvited and brazen mother-in-law (Jennifer Coolidge), who’s climbed in through a house window, casts protective parenting aside with a dose of “fun mother” time.
The commercial is part of a “Partners in Pethood” campaign which also includes other Guest-directed spots, including an anthem piece featuring Anna Faris hosting a dog birthday party complete with canine party hats, a bone-shaped cake, costumed puppy photo albums and overwrought pet-rearing discussions.
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Credits
Client PetSmart Agency GSD&M, Austin, Texas Scott Brewer, group creative director/art director; Ryan Carroll, group creative director/writer; Kevin Dunleavy, associate creative director/writer; Ross Aboud, associate creative director/art director; Jack Epsteen, sr. VP, director of production; Monique Veillette, producer; Adrian Weist, associate agency producer. Production GO Christopher Guest, director; Gary Rose, managing director; Adam Bloom, Catherine Finkenstaedt, exec producers; Mark Hyatt, producer; Kristian Kachikis, DP. Editorial Mackenzie Cutler, NY Gavin Cutler, editor.
Pearson has launched its first global brand campaign in more than five years as the 182-year-old company continues its evolution into an AI-enabled education and reskilling leader.
The campaign centers on a series of cinematic films featuring real learners in conversation with their younger selves. Using AI to recreate earlier versions of each participant, the films allow individuals to reflect on pivotal decisions, moments of doubt, and turning points that shaped their futures. The creative approach blends emerging technology with documentary storytelling grounded in lived experience.
At a time when AI’s role in both education and creativity is under intense scrutiny, Pearson has taken a deliberate and considered approach. The technology is used not as spectacle, but as a reflective storytelling device, built around consent, authenticity, and human agency. It reflects Pearson’s strong support for AI in augmenting human potential with learning at the core.
The first learner stories spotlight U.S.-based individuals, with additional international profiles launching later this spring as part of an ongoing global series that Pearson produced with VaynerMedia for creative, and Hummingbird and Tool of North America for production. Aqsa Altaf and John X. Carey via Hummingbird teamed to direct the “Impact Stories” films.
This film introduces us to Jasmine who meets her younger 27-year-old self. The younger Jasmine has two kids and is pregnant with a third. She and her two children are living in a domestic violence shelter, sleeping on an inflatable mattress with a slow air leak. Now getting a Pearson education and on her way to realizing her dreams seven years later, Jasmine gets to impart a message of inspiration to her younger self.
