Petlove and Sao Paulo Metro Take on Animal Cruelty with "Villains," an Animated Series

Nov. 02, 2026

Petlove, Brazil’s largest pet ecosystem, exists to make the world a place where every pet can be happier and healthier. In partnership with São Paulo Metro, the company chose to tackle animal abandonment from a different angle: instead of leading with conventional messaging about the issue and the law, the campaign bets on entertainment as the tool to spark reflection and drive behavior change.

The initiative launches with the series “Villains” (“Vilões” in Portuguese), built around the line “Not even the greatest villains abandon their pets,” created by Unboring Company and produced by Never Boring Productions, the agency’s in-house production arm. Developed as animation, the project opens with the episode “The Secret of the Forest,” which lands on YouTube and social media on Halloween Eve and kicks off a run of stories that follows the holiday and year-end vacation season.

The cause grows out of an activist streak that has been part of Petlove since its founding, and of a principle that guides its business decisions: pets at the center of everything. That commitment has already produced several animal-welfare communication platforms, including “Chega de Fogos” (“No More Fireworks”), which raises awareness of the impact of loud fireworks on animals, and “Petlove Não Vende” (“Petlove Doesn’t Sell”), in which the brand took an active stand against the sale of products that harm pets.

Bruno Junqueira, VP of People, ESG and Corporate Communications at Petlove said:

"Choosing a light-hearted tone for such an important subject is deliberate: we want to democratize understanding of a serious issue that needs to be discussed widely and responsibly. At Petlove, we work every day to make the world a place where every pet can be happier and healthier, and ‘Villains’ lets us carry that message to even more people."

 

According to estimates published by Agência Brasil, the Brazilian government’s news agency, some 30 million animals live in abandonment in the country — one of the highest figures in the world. Emotion over education - Signed off with the line “Even evil has its limits. Not even the greatest villains abandon their pets,” the series starts from a simple provocation: if even characters famous for being villains care for and protect their animals, what could possibly justify abandonment in real life?

The idea came when Unboring Company noticed that many of the great villains of literature and the oldest folk tales have a pet. 

 

Luiz Villano, co-founder and CEO of Unboring said:

"We’re an agency that builds extraordinary universes for brands. Every episode opens in horror mode. In the first one, a cat is dumped on a roadside and the forest seems to close in on it. The twist comes when you realize the witch is there to rescue the animal. And in the end, she gets her revenge on whoever abandoned it — in a fun way."

 

The episodes connect to form a universe of their own, in which the villains become animal-rights activists. The witch runs a daycare, the vampire keeps a sanctuary, and the characters cross over into one another’s stories.

Actress Myra Ruiz, who played the witch Elphaba in the Brazilian production of the musical Wicked for a decade said:

“I spent years bringing to life a witch everyone thought was wicked, who deep down was fighting for the animals. When the invitation came, it felt like the natural next chapter of that story. The Witch in ‘Villains’ is scary, but whoever she protects is always safe. If even a villain knows that abandoning a pet is not an option, so do we."

 

She stars in one of the campaign’s social-media teasers: while sweeping her backyard with a witch’s broom, she hears a meow coming from a box. She finds a kitten, takes it in and carries it home. The film ends without revealing what happened to the two, and was released on October 29, just days before Halloween.

For Wladimir Winter, co-founder and CCO of Unboring, a two-time Emmy Award winner and member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, choosing the language of entertainment is what carries the message further. 

He said:

“Cause campaigns usually inform, and information rarely changes behavior. Emotion does. Media buys attention, but it can’t buy sharing. A good story ends up in the family group chat, on your mom’s WhatsApp, with everyone who has a pet at home. That’s why, before being a campaign against abandonment, ‘Villains’ had to be good content. After all, the commitment to a pet doesn’t end when vacation starts — or when a campaign does.”

 

The look is part of the strategy. Animated in 2D and running over three minutes each, the episodes revive the visual style of 1980s and 1990s broadcast-TV cartoons such as He-Man and ThunderCats. That language speaks to the nostalgia of the audience most engaged with the cause: women over 35 who grew up on those cartoons and share animal content on their social feeds. A cause that doesn’t end with the holidays - After “The Secret of the Forest,” Episode 2, “Creatures of the Night,” starring a vampire, is slated to premiere in the second half of November. The final two episodes tie into Christmas and the year-end summer holidays, running through Green December (Dezembro Verde), Brazil’s awareness month against animal abandonment. In February, Petlove’s platform continues with a new campaign, keeping the cause on air throughout the year. A first-of-its-kind partnership - The Petlove–São Paulo Metro partnership is unprecedented in Brazil and marks the first time the transit company has teamed up with a pet-sector business. Over 24 months, the initiative includes films, static pieces, illustrations and other formats across on-board screens, totems and other spaces on Lines 1-Blue, 2-Green, 3-Red, 15-Silver and 17-Gold for 15 days, plus audio announcements on the trains.

Among the pieces, one of the most striking features the witch operating a train, alongside the sign “Don’t Abandon.” The image brings the campaign’s central provocation to life and was designed to grab passengers’ attention and carry the conversation beyond the Metro.

Bruno Junqueira, VP of People, ESG and Corporate Communications at Petlove added:

"Millions of people pass through Metro stations every day, which makes it a strategic environment for raising awareness of a cause that needs the whole of society on board. We want the entire population to understand the importance of caring for, protecting and respecting animals, and for that message to reach different audiences in a way that is light, accessible and thought-provoking."

 

Marcos Borges, Passenger Care and Collaborative Initiatives Coordinator at São Paulo Metro said:

"The partnership reinforces an important social commitment: raising public awareness of responsible pet ownership. Abandonment exposes animals to risk and vulnerability and has consequences for society as a whole. Caring for pets is a collective responsibility. This is an important step toward a metro system that is ever safer, more welcoming and more engaged with the social issues that are part of everyday life in the city. Beyond mobility, the Metro reaffirms its commitment to life, promoting initiatives that bring together operational safety, citizenship and respect for animals."

 

But the campaign doesn’t stop at screens and ad spaces. Throughout the partnership, Petlove and the Metro will also run initiatives for the animal cause, including training in animal handling and rescue, adoption events, vaccination drives and the distribution of educational materials — among them “Villains” comic books, which take the campaign’s characters into new adventures.