Donned in pawsh pink getups, these kakampets a.k.a robredogs have taken Instagram by storm. Apparently, these beloved members of the household are taking Robredo’s tagline, “Sa gobyernong tapat, angat buhay lahat!”, to its core where all life forms are included in the presidential bet’s promises of compassion, accountability, and radical love.
The Instagram trend of involving furry families in the campaign supposedly began when an online shop with the handle @lickimanila posted a three-panel post with the tag “Brands can no longer be neutral”. Their shop sells feeding toys for cats and dogs that are meant to stimulate the licking instinct of domesticated animals.
In their caption, they clarified that they did evaluate their position in showing political colors because they reasoned that “Filipinos are still conservative with their political beliefs” and that they did not see how a pet brand would directly affect the state of the nation. Amidst these reasons, the team behind @lickimanila insisted on standing by VP Leni Robredo’s presidential bid because they believed in the pink future she promises.
Under the same post, they called for the support of local businesses across the board to show their support for Robredo by changing their Instagram logos to the bright pink tag of the only female presidential candidate. Their call for colors waved through other pet brands like @bonapawtit.ph who are “bonaPINKtit” all the way. Besides pet shop brands, fur parents with dedicated Instagram accounts for their pets (dubbed “petstagram”) have joined in the call to action.
Letters to Pacey the Poodle from her Humom, Rina
Pacito, nicknamed “Pacey”, is an Instagram-famous poodle with no less than 2,000 followers under her personal petstagram @pacitothepoodle. The petsagram is handled by her humom, Rina Sarmiento, who is an events planner and organizer. Under that tag, Rina shares experiencing life with Pacito through letters that she dedicates to her furry best friend.
On October 19, 2021, Pacey and Rina met the vice president in real life. Rina writes that Pacey was so starstruck with the politician that she played dead during the introduction. The pair was also very generous as they gifted a special bandana from their @heypacey pet apparel line for the Robredo family’s pug, Rocco.
After Pacito’s encounter with the vice president where she was able to live up to her guard dog dreams, Rina followed up with a selfie with VP Leni Robredo during the campaign period. In the Instagram story, she shares that the presidential candidate was very kind in remembering to ask about Rina’s father and Pacito the poodle.
And when the campaign for the May 2022 elections began, Rina organized the “Pet Gala Pink Life” through their pet apparel line @heypacey in collaboration with @teamrobredog. In this initiative, petstagrams were encouraged to show off their kakampets in their best pink outfits. Rina shares that the objective of starting this trend was not just about flooding Instagram with pets dressed in pink, but more about representing who and what participants believe in for the sake of the country.
As the election season draws to an end with Robredo only running 2nd in the presidential polls, Pacito and Rina are keeping themselves busy with organizing an event called Pet Huddle where pets and their families could band together in Bonifacio Global City to enjoy the pet lifestyle and community fair. Several pet shops that have supported @lickimanila’s kakampet initiative like @bowhouse.ph are set to join the fair this coming May 21, 2022.
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