Selling Cat Food

And who doesn’t like cats?

Usually I avoid watching TV commercials, considering them an interruption and supreme annoyance. But my attention was grabbed by a soft, melodic tune reminiscent of something from the 1960’s. My head snapped to the tube, and there on the screen was some cat that was apparently having an LSD-induced hallucination. It was dancing with purple and blue, stork-legged turkeys and riding on a fish sailboat. There were flying cows and windmills on clouds. I stared at the screen slackjawed and went, “Whaaaaaa?”

The commercial is stunning...gorgeous. The music works perfectly with the lush visuals. Okay, Friskies, you got my attention.



Because I am obsessed with these things, I had to research it. Turns out that this commercial is the brainchild of a certified wacko named Erik Denno of the Avrett Free Ginsburg ad agency. It’s just the latest in a long-running ad campaign called “Feed The Senses." This particular spot is called, "Adventureland."

Denno reasoned that if we humans visualize Italy when we eat Italian food, say, then cats must also do something, err, similar. He wanted to create a world of flavors that a cat might experience when it ate Friskies cat food.

Ooookaaaaaaaaaay.

And he was serious.

So Erik put together a team of other LSD-takers (and apparently cat-lovers) who each contributed their part to make this whole thing come to life. The amount of work they put into it is astounding. Remember, it's cat food.

The spot is bizarre. There is of course a short (30-second) version and a longer one. Even in the 60-second commercial it's hard to catch all of the intricate detail and texture they put into it. You have to watch it online, pausing to study a scene that would otherwise flash by so briefly that you'd miss it.

It's amazing. I watch it and shake my head, staring at the screen and going, "Folks, it's just CAT FOOD!"

The comments to the YouTube video are great.

Fuzzfilm says: "Yes, the most awesome cat food commercial of all freekin time, I love it! What the hell were the ad hacks who came up with this smoking anyway!"

Lluvio3: "It's like Purina hired a bunch of animators on drugs to make the best commercial for cat food ever!"

Finally, Albeer45 sez: "My cat likes the food, but he thinks he's not the target audience for this campaign-its not masculine enough for him."

I know, I know...I get fascinated by the weirdest crap. After all, it's just a dang television commercial. And I mean, I don't even own a cat. Hell, I don't even like cats!

But I admire creativity. And Friskies produced a commercial so imaginative and compelling that it not only got me to watch it (forced me to watch it, actually), but to write about it in a blog. If that isn't hitting their mark perfectly, I don't know what is.

Bravo, Friskies!

YOUTUBE: The Making of Adventureland (It's worth watching, too)