When Walgreens aired its “Give Unexpected Joy This Holiday” TV commercial back in 2015, the real unexpected part of the ad was the breed of dog used in it. Watch the ad below and see if you can identify the dog’s breed:

This four legged gift-giver is a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, a terrific sporting breed one doesn’t usually see on TV outside of shows about hunting.  Happily, it wasn’t the last time the breed was used to promote something. In 2018, Discover Credit Card used a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon for its series of “social security number alerts” commercials. Check out the one called, “Dog Kiss:”

The same dog and actresses (Patrice Marjorie and Ozioma Akagha) reprised their parts in “Butt Dial:”

Pedigree also discovered the Griffon in this ad called, “Messy Baby” extolling the virtues of Dentastix:

You get the idea: Griffs make great “spokesdogs,” an unexpected role for a gundog more often seen in the field than the studio.  Unusual as it may be to the general public, the breed itself is hardly new. The first breed standard created and signed by its creator, Eduard Karel Korthals, and sixteen other breeders was published in 1887, the same year that first breed member was registered with the AKC, a female named “Zolette.” Incidentally, the registration was not without its confusion because Zolette was erroneously registered as a Russian Setter. Despite the flub, the AKC considers 1887 to be the year which the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon was first registered.

Image:” Griff” by Cori Solomon
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