There are 146,000,000 people in Russia. Just 4 Russians with Down syndrome are officially employed. In Russia, it is generally believed that people with Down syndrome can’t work.

BBDO Russia and Pedigree decided to do something about this, as part of their global Feed the Good campaign. How can the idea that dogs bring out the best in people help people with Down syndrome? Dogs are more than just animals to humans – they are friends who don’t notice disabilities and accept people the way they are.

During BBDO Moscow’s Feed the Dog project, pUp syndrome, 5 people with Down syndrome got the chance to spend time at the Dog training Centre and hotel for dogs – a place where animals are in need of special attention and care because they are away from their owners.

The young people learned how to work, to be independent and responsible caring for the animals. Dogs helped them to become more self-reliant and self-starting. pUp syndrome became the first professional adaptation programme for people with Down syndrome in Russia.

Pedigree owner, Mars, has now committed to employ people with Down syndrome in its new dog centre in the Ulyanovsk region, which will open in 2017. More than that, the project’s partner, DownsideUp, the leading charitable fund working with people with Down syndrome, opened a new department of professional adaptation.

Credits:

Agency: BBDO Moscow

Managing director: Natalia Tsyganova

Creative director: Alexey Fedorov

Creative group head: Ekaterina Savrasova

Senior copywriter: Natalia Sytnik

Digital creative group head: Victor Gribanov

Senior digital producer: Yuriy Marin

TV production director – Boris Anisonyan

Senior producer: Yana Ageeva

Junior producer: Anna Chernaya

Music producer: Dmitriy Rubezhov

Director TV production studio: Kirill Kulygin

Senior TV studio manager: Andrey Belov

Group account director: Elena Vorobyova

Account director: Natalya Dzhafarova

Account supervisor: Anastasia Babuchenko

Creative production company: Bureau Working Title

Director: Taisia Reshetnikova

DOP: Alexandra Ivanova

Executive producer: Elena Vlasova

Line producer: Tatyana Finaeva

Production designer: Ruslana Osmanova

Producer assistant: Ksenia Tsvetkova

Editor: Kirill Khandurin

Music composer: Oleg Karpachev

PR Agency Mint (BBDO Group)

Managing director: Viacheslav Tikhomirov

Client services director: Anastasiya Pogorelova

Senior project manager: Kseniya Kuznetsova

Project manager: Maria Kirienko

Mars Russia:

Portfolio director, dog care Mars Petcare Russia: Sergey Kesoyan

Senior brand manager Pedigree, marketing Mars petcare: Maria Suchkova

Partner: DownsideUp

Development Director: Irina Menshenina

Project Manager: Yulia Goncharova