Cats in Advertising

Advertising has brought fame to many cats. In Britain, the all-white Arthur is well known for eating his food from the can with his paw.

In the United States, Arthur's equivalent was Morris, who won a Patsy in 1973 for advertising cat food.

Another famous British cat was Solomon, a Chinchilla Longhair who started his career advertising carpets but went on to feature in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever.

Cats are featuring increasingly in advertising for two simple reasons. First, cat ownership is rising and now exceeds dog ownership in North America and many parts of Europe.

The second reason is that market research has shown that people actually remember advertisements better when cats appear in them.

One detergent company studied the effectiveness of their advertisements and discovered that more people remembered their product seven days after viewing a commercial with a cat in the starring role than when a dog, horse, chimpanzee, bird, "woman next door," or even a famous personality was featured.

Cats seem to suggest cleanliness and sensuality.

Good advertisements appeal to our emotions and cats are ideal for representing what advertising experts classify as "female" values - warmth, beauty, capriciousness, and elegance.

 With these associations, the future is bright for cats in entertainment.