Whiskas--Feeding Your Cat's Instincts

This is a series of print cat food ads by the company Whiskas. There are several different ads in the series, and they've even changed their product labels to include this same theme.  In some of the ads, they say, "Big cat, little cat" to let consumers know that little cats have the same instincts as "big" cats, like lions and tigers. The ads all show cats and kittens in the wild with other "big" animals. 

One online ad says, "Just like big cats in the wild, your cat is a natural carnivore – seeking out food that provides it with essential nutrients." This is a clever ad campaign that appeals to our need to nurture--in this case to nurture our pets with what they need. The online ad makes a point of saying that cats shouldn't be vegetarians. We don't really know if this is true, but the Whiskas company knows that we want to do what is right for our pets, so we want to feed them what is good for them. It appeals to our paternal and maternal instincts to do the right thing.

Pet food commercials are often very creative and interesting because no one wants to do the wrong things when it comes to taking care of something like a kitten or puppy. These ads put pictures of pets in all kinds of circumstances, many of them not real or true. Most of these are cute or funny or entertaining, and that definitely draws people into the ad. then, when you're at the grocery store in the pet food aisle, you see Whiskas, you remember those entertaining pictures of them in the wild.