{{Short description|Use of cats in advertising}} [[File:Black Cat Cigarettes - geograph.org.uk - 1945486 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Adverisment for Black Cat Cigarettes from the early 20th century]] '''Catvertising''' is the use of cats in advertising. Although cats have been used in advertising for many years, the technique was first given its own name in about 1999.<ref name="high_Catv">{{Cite web | title = Catvertising; but Our Moggy Tester Gives 'First Advert for Pets' the Paws-Down | author = Mark Oliver | work = The Mirror | location = London | date = January 28, 1999 | accessdate = 2015-03-14 | url = https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Catvertising%3b+But+our+moggy+tester+gives+%27first+advert+for+pets%27+the...-a060242382 | language = | quote = | archive-date = 2022-07-01 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220701213617/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Catvertising%3B+But+our+moggy+tester+gives+%27first+advert+for+pets%27+the...-a060242382 | url-status = dead }}</ref> The term, a blend word from ''cat'' and ''advertising'', increased in popularity beginning in 2011 as a result of a parody of commercialization of cat viral videos by the advertising agency ''john st.'' in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.<ref name="yout_Catv">{{Cite web | title = Catvertising | author = john st. | work = YouTube | date = 2011-11-10 | accessdate = 2015-03-15 | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkOQw96cfyE | quote = }}</ref><ref name="nyma_OfMi">{{Cite web | title = Of Mice and Memes | author = Alyssa Giacobbe | work = New York Magazine | date = 2011-11-20 | accessdate = 2015-03-14 | url = http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/topic/cats-2011-11/ | language = | quote = ...a Canadian ad agency’s new “Catvertising” video... }}</ref><ref name="trut_Trut">{{Cite web | title = Truth in Cat-vertising | author = | work = Truth In Advertising | date = May 21, 2013 | accessdate = 2015-03-14 | url = https://www.truthinadvertising.org/truth-in-cat-vertising/ | quote = We live in a world of cat-vertising. }}</ref><ref name="huff_WATC">{{Cite web | title = Catvertising: The Advertising Strategy That Is Going To Change Everything | author = | work = The Huffington Post | date = 2011-11-14 | accessdate = 2015-03-14 | url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/14/catvertising-video_n_1092236.html | quote = }}</ref><ref name="adwe_John">{{Cite web | title = John St. in Toronto Shifts Entire Focus to Catvertising: 'Nobody wants to see ads anymore. They want cat videos' | author = Tim Nudd | work = AdWeek | date = 2011-11-11 | accessdate = 2015-03-14 | url = http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/john-st-toronto-shifts-entire-focus-catvertising-136487 | quote = }}</ref><ref name="then_Thew">{{Cite web | title = The world's first Catvertising agency launches | last = Myers | first = Courtney Boyd | work = The Next Web | date = 14 November 2011 | accessdate = 2015-03-14 | url = https://thenextweb.com/shareables/2011/11/14/the-worlds-first-catvertising-agency-launches-in-canada/ | quote = }}</ref><ref name="news_Catv">{{Cite magazine | title = Catvertising: An Ad Agency Trend We Wish Were Real | author = Erin Skarda | magazine = Time | date = 2011-11-15 | access-date = 2015-03-14 | url = https://newsfeed.time.com/2011/11/15/catvertising-an-ad-agency-trend-we-wish-were-real/ | quote = }}</ref><ref name="issu_OldT">{{Cite journal | title = Angus Tucker makes advertising fun | issue = Winter/Spring 2012 | author = Andrea Aster | journal = Old Times: Alumni Upper Canada College's Alumni Publication | date = 2012 | accessdate = 2015-03-14 | page = 15 | url = http://issuu.com/uppercanadacollege/docs/old_times_spring_2012 | quote = ...Catvertising, with 1.5 million hits on YouTube... }}</ref><ref name="thes_Happ">{{Cite web | title = Happily not addicted | author = Brenda Benedict | work = The Star (Malaysia) | date = 2012-01-30 | accessdate = 2015-03-14 | url = http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Viewpoints/Sambal-On-The-Side/Profile/Articles/2012/01/30/Happily-not-addicted/ | archive-url = https://archive.today/20150315203553/http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Viewpoints/Sambal-On-The-Side/Profile/Articles/2012/01/30/Happily-not-addicted/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = March 15, 2015 | language = | quote = Apparently “catvertising” is going to be the next big thing. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|author = Jeff Beer |url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/1265769934/13D4BC947CF796419E5 |title = The Online Ad That Wasn't |journal = Canadian Business |date = 10 December 2010 |pages = 10, 11 |accessdate = 2015-03-14 |quote = When working on getting new business, we obviously put a more serious face forward, showing our capabilities and the kinds of things we do, but inevitably the topic of Buyral or Catvertising comes up. }}</ref><ref name="Netburn2012"/> It was nominated for a Webby Award in 2012.<ref name="webb_Catv">{{Cite web | title = Catvertising, The Webby Awards | author = | work = webbyawards.com | date = 2012 | accessdate = 2015-04-11 | url = http://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2012/advertising-media/individual/best-copywriting/catvertising/ | quote = }}</ref> The video was part of a series of spoofs beginning with "Pink Ponies: A Case Study", then Catvertising, and finally "Buyral" (a blend of "buy" and "viral").<ref name="Netburn2012">{{Cite web | title = 'Viraler and viraler': Fake ad promises to make your video viral | first = Deborah | last = Netburn | work = Los Angeles Times | date = 2012-11-05 | access-date = 2015-04-11 | url = https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-nov-05-la-fi-tn-buyral-20121105-story.html | quote = John St., the Canadian advertising agency that brought you the YouTube hits "Catvertising"... John St. has a history of striking a chord with its fake advertisements. In November 2011 the agency put up a video called "Catvertising" in which it stated that it would focus entirely on making cat videos. }}</ref>
This style of advertisement is sometimes simply referred to as a "cat commercial".<ref name="adwe_9Awe">{{Cite web | title = 9 Awesome Cat Commercials That Drive the Internet Wild: These ads have way more than nine lives | author = Tim Nudd | work = AdWeek | date = August 8, 2012 | accessdate = 2015-03-14 | url = http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/advertising-branding/9-awesome-cat-commercials-drive-internet-wild-142622#cravendale-cats-with-thumbs-1 | quote = }}</ref>
A University of Arizona marketing team competes under the name "Catvertising".<ref name="high_UaMa">{{Cite web | title = University of Arizona Marketing Students Win National AT&T Competition | author = Yara Askar | work = States News Service (University of Arizona) | date = 2014-05-22 | accessdate = 2015-03-15 | url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-369050810.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924154840/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-369050810.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2015-09-24 | quote = The UA "Catvertising" team regularly qualifies for national marketing competitions }}</ref><ref name="high_Camp">{{Cite web | title = Campaigning for AT&T, University of Arizona Marketing Students Engaged in Nationwide Competition | author = Yara Askar | work = States News Service (University of Arizona) | date = 2014-05-15 | accessdate = 2015-03-15 | url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-368371419.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402130634/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-368371419.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2015-04-02 | quote = Students in the Marketing 425 course 'Advertising Management' at the Eller College of Management - affectionately nicknamed '425 Catvertising'... }}</ref>
== See also == * lolcat
== References == {{reflist|3}}
{{Wiktionary}}
Category:Internet memes Category:1990s neologisms