Hidden Meanings in the “I’d Do Anything” Pet Store Commercial

I can’t help but wonder if the person who came up with the “I’d Do Anything” pet store commercial had ever seen the musical the song came from. As fun as musical numbers in Oliver! can be, many of them also have a depth of hidden meanings and darker hints, and I can’t help but think of those other meanings every time I see the commercial.

Warning: I won’t discuss all the plot points for Oliver!, but there will be some spoilers nonetheless. The plot also involves violence against women, which may be triggering.

Dark Foreshadowing in “I’d Do Anything” That Twists the Commercial

Foreshadowing in “I’d Do Anything”

For those who don’t know, Oliver! is a musical interpretation of Charles Dickens’ book, Oliver Twist. While there are substantial differences from the novel, but some of the main ideas and characters carry over. Oliver Twist is an orphan who makes his way to London and is taken in by a band of child thieves led by Fagan (a much kinder and more love-able character in the musical than in the book). Fagan is also associated with a violent house thief named Bill Sykes and a prostitute who loves Bill named Nancy.

Why am I telling you this to talk about the commercial? Well, some context is needed to understand the deeper meanings of the song. But now that you have that, let’s dive into the song itself.

“I’d Do Anything” is a song about listing examples to prove that you’d do anything for a specific person. You can watch the movie version of “I’d Do Anything” if you really want a better understanding of it, or here’s a snippet between one of the boy thieves and Nancy to give you the basic idea:

THE ARTFUL DODGER
I’d do anything for you, dear, anything
For you mean everything to me.
I know that I’d go anywhere for your smile, anywhere,
For your smile’s everywhere I’d see.

NANCY
Would you climb a hill?

Anything

Wear a daffodill?

Anything

Leave me all your will?

Anything

Even fight my Bill?

What? Fisticuffs?!

Now, as you get further into the musical, you learn that this bright, fun song actually foreshadows the darkest moment of the plot. You see, as the story progresses we see Bill strike Nancy for disagreeing with him in order to protect Oliver, and in the end, when he sees her trying to send Oliver to a better home, Bill beats her to death.

Foreshadowing the Boys’ Inaction

If you look back at the snippet of the song, the Artful Dodger tells Nancy he would do anything for her until she asks if he would fight Bill. To which, he responds with shock and horror. Then, later the boy thieves see Bill strike Nancy, and though they are all clearly appalled, they do nothing. Just as the song hints, fighting Bill Sykes is beyond what they would do for her.

Foreshadowing Nancy’s Death

The next section of the song is even darker foreshadowing because Nancy becomes the one singing that she’d do anything, and she sings it directly to Oliver. Unlike the boys, however, Nancy is true to her words and risks everything to protect Oliver as best she can and eventually dies for him.

Meaning Carried Over to the Pet Commercial

For people who don’t know the songs origins, a pet commercial where pet owners and store associates sing about doing anything for their pets probably seems cute if a bit over the top. For those of us who know the true meaning hidden in the song, it makes the commercial much more twisted and dark.

So you’d die for your pet? That seems a bit extreme. Or are they the Artful Dodger – claiming they’d do anything but not actually willing to go the distance?

I can’t help but think of it whenever the commercial goes by, which makes me wonder: did the person who designed the commercial just not know? Did they know and assume no one would think of that in a pet commercial? Or did they know and secretly giggle at the hidden meanings they were slipping by a mostly unknowing audience?