If you had cable television in the late 2000s, you’re likely familiar with the infamous ASPCA commercial featuring Sarah McLachlan and her melancholic ballad, “Angel.” The combination of McLachlan’s somber music and slow-mo footage of shaking, timid animals didn’t just tug on the heartstrings. It yanked them hard.
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The commercial was as popular as it was melodramatic. Years later, the Canadian singer-songwriter shared her real thoughts about the late-night ad that turned into a massive part of her cultural and musical legacy.
Sarah McLachlan Reflects On “Angel” ASPCA Commercial
Whoever was running the advertising department of ASPCA, or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, knew exactly what they were doing. Footage of trembling animals in shelter kennels? Check. Celebrity appearances? Check. The most dramatic, sentimental, and tear-jerking song in Sarah McLachlan’s discography? Check, check, and check. McLachlan’s ASPCA commercial was a mainstay of cable television in the late 2000s. In fact, the ad quickly became what many viewers associated McLachlan with the most. It became her cultural legacy.
In a 2025 interview with Rolling Stone, McLachlan called the commercial “painful. I couldn’t watch it. It was just like, ‘Oh, God is awful.’ But it worked like a hot damn. And it’s funny, because I’m a super-happy, super-optimistic person. But that showed me as this sort of quiet, sad person with all my puppies and kittens. I’ll never forget the director saying, ‘I just need a little more [makes a sad face] from you.”
The commercial wasn’t something McLachlan necessarily sought out, either. “A friend of mine was on the [ASPCA] board and said, ‘Hey, do you want to do this commercial? We’ve never done this before with a celebrity or someone known.’ I love animals, and we thought it might be a cool thing to do, so I did it. And in a year, it raised $30 million or something like that.”
The Song’s Inspiration Came From Reading Magazine Articles
Despite what the mournful melody and lyrics might suggest, the song that would reintroduce Sarah McLachlan to a new audience through the inclusion of “Angel” in an ASPCA commercial wasn’t necessarily supposed to be sad. She wrote it as a reprieve for the sorrowful and downtrodden. McLachlan later said writing “Angel” was “a real joyous occasion. I really loved it. It came out easily, and that just solidified my faith again. I still have stuff to say, and there’s still stuff that I can write that’s good.”
Per McLachlan, the inspiration for “Angel” came from “a series of Rolling Stone articles over the past year and a half, typically about h***** in the music industry, and all these people who, one by one, are getting picked off by it. I just felt a really great empathy, in some way, for these people. I’ve been in that palace where you’re so f***ed up and you’re so lost that you don’t know who you are anymore, and you’re miserable. Here’s this escape route. I’ve never done h*****. But I’ve done plenty of other things to escape.”
Photo by Lora Olive/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
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