“Oink Woof Baaa.” Three seemingly meaningless words appeared on posters on the streets of Milan, London and Berlin accompanied by the image of a white pig. For Pink Floyd fans, however, the message is far from indecipherable. In fact, the clues seem to lead to Animals, one of the band's most famous albums, originally released in January 1977 and now close to its fiftieth anniversary.
The promotional campaign is playing on the group's ability to transform an image into a symbol. The pig and the writing appeared on Pink Floyd's official social networks, while similar posters were photographed in Milan, near the Castello Sforzesco and the Arco della Pace, and subsequently in London. However, the very first city in which they were spotted was Berlin.
An operation built to fuel curiosity before the official announcement, which arrived a few hours ago, through a clip shared on the English group's Instagram account. Animals 50 will be released on January 22, 2027, and will include numerous rare and unreleased songs, never-before-seen images, exclusive essays and a previously unreleased song.
The mystery of the reprint
The existence of the new release was leaked in advance by Amazon Australia, which on 23 October 2026 accidentally published images and information relating to a celebratory box set for the 50th anniversary of Animals. Some single editions and a possible release date, January 23, 2027, were also indicated, but the information was later removed.
In the past few hours, through a video shared on Pink Floyd's Instagram channel, the official announcement has arrived: Animals 50 will be released on January 22, 2027, and will include numerous rare and unreleased songs, never-before-seen images, exclusive essays and the unreleased song Sheep (Edit), available in streaming from today.
The reissue will be available in deluxe box set format, 2 LP, 1 LP, 2 CD, Blu-Ray and digital, and you can pre-order it now on Pink Floyd's official website.
The project therefore arrives after the box set published in December 2025 for the fiftieth anniversary of Wish You Were Here.
The 1977 campaign
However, the game of clues is nothing new for Pink Floyd. In 1977, to promote Animals, the band bought the center pages of some music magazines and filled them almost completely with the large slogans "Oink Oink, Woof, Woof, Baaaaa". In one corner only the album cover and little information about the release appeared.
The strategy was essential and immediately recognisable. At the center of the communication was the pig, which later became one of the most famous visual elements of Pink Floyd's imagination.
Algie, the flying pig
The pig on the cover of Animals, renamed Algie, was also featured on the 1977 tour in the form of a huge inflatable. Since then it has become a recurring presence in the imagination linked to Pink Floyd and Roger Waters' concerts.
Algie's story is also linked to the famous photograph taken in front of the Battersea Power Station in London. In 1976 the large pig-shaped balloon broke loose during filming and floated away, later ending up on a farm in Kent. The episode contributed to making a cover already destined to enter rock history even more iconic.
Now, fifty years after the release of Animals, that pig returns to center stage. For a few days, Pink Floyd preferred clues to announcements, opting for a strategy that reflects the spirit of the original campaign and leaves fans with the task of understanding what is hidden behind those three words. But a few hours ago, however, the mystery was revealed: the date to mark in large letters in your diary, if you are a Pink Floyd fan, is January 22, 2027.
