Animal shelter's hilarious (and adorable) drawings go viral

We've seen plenty of examples of deliberately dodgy marketing in recent months, mostly driven by brands' attempts to keep up with the kids on TikTok. But here's an example that manages to sit on the right side of annoying, and is actually pretty adorable.

Claiming that its "camera broke", one Canadian animal shelter took to Facebook to share artist's (read: staff's) impressions of the rescue animals available to adopt. And while you might think some of the staff ought to visit one of our how to draw tutorials, the irreverent campaign has proven a hit on social media.

Ottowa Humane Society  shared the images on Facebook, claiming that its "camera broke". Later, after sharing the drawings to much mirth online, the shelter announced, “It turns out we just left the lens cap on." (We've all done it.)

Not that every drawing isn't up to scratch. Just look at lovely old Espresso up there – that's some textbook digital brushwork! But then there's Addison, who appears to be some kind of (very sad) giraffe-dog crossbreed. Then again, when images of the actual Addison were shared as she headed to her "forever home," it turned out the depiction was pretty uncanny.

"We thought it would be funny if we pretended our camera broke and were forced to draw the animals," Stephen Smith, Ottawa Humane Society's communications manager, told Newsweek. "We also hoped that it would be disruptive and different since our feed is always filled with quality photos of animals."

From Maxwell the Cat to those hilarious 'celebrity' cereal endorsements, we've seen all manner of weird and wonderful examples of DIY marketing over the last few months. If you're inspired to draw an ad of your own, take a look at the best drawing tablets.