Given that cats have such strong powers of suggestion in terms of symbols, it is not surprising that they were used in advertising.
In 1885 one of the first famous cats in product advertising was the big black and white pussycat stretched out on an armchair for Old Tom Gin (a name often given to English cats at the time). Since cats spend a great deal of their time sleeping, they need comfort and warmth. Thus they began to appear one by one on car cushions (Fiat), sofas (Cinna), next to boilers (Technal, Techibel) and fireplaces (Supra).
Cats are also the guardians of the family and they first appeared in this role way back in the time of the Egyptians. One tobacco company chose the cat for two reasons. The first reason was its name: Catlin Tobacco Company. The second reason was that it had chosen to illustrate the advertisement with a cat defending a tobacco box that was sheltering her young. A cat guarding the house can be also pitted against a rat burglar, in order to show how efficient an alarm system is (Brink's).
Cats are always busy cleaning themselves. Cleanliness has long been associated with cats. In 1943, the Axton-Fischer Company used a white Angora cat cleaning itself to show that the filters on its cigarettes cleaned the impurities out of the smoke inhaled. The detergent and soap maker, Le Chat, used the symbol of the cat to promote the image of its products.
Omo detergent, Fee household cleaning products and Manshion Polish also used this image.
Because cats have such soft fur, they have been used to promote wool (Chat botte) and women's legs (wearing Dim hose or shaven with a Philips razor). The purring cat adds the idea of pleasure to the image of softness (Dim). Of course, these advertisements mainly target women. The symbol of femininity brought out by cats has also made its appearance in advertising. Women have been transformed into cats such as with the idle woman for Cinna sofas. Conversely, cats have been changed into women for Boucheron jewelry.
Elegance and beauty are conveyed by felines in order to promote household equipment (Kano kitchens or Selles bathrooms) in addition to their ability to move silently. Cats do not like a lot of racket. Thus they were also seen in advertisements next to dishwashers (Miele) or vacuum cleaners (Moulinex).
Another symbol of that of vision - is best illustrated by a black cat with yellow eyes. This cat became the symbol of Marshall automobile headlights and lent his look to that of the Canon auto focus camera. According to Laurence Raphael (le Chat dans la publicit [Cats in Advertising], Lyon, 1986), the most widely used symbols in advertising are silence, softness, beauty, luxury and femininity.
In 47% of advertisements, advertisers are trying to sell household supply products, since cats are perceived to be protectors of the home.
Women are the main target (in 40% of cases they are the sole target as opposed to 15% for men), because cats appeal to emotions and feelings. In 43% of cases, cats are evocative enough to be used alone. In 32% of cases, they are accompanied by a woman, as opposed to only 6% of cases when they are accompanied by men. It should be noted that the breed of the cat can also be suggestive. In fact the percentage of purebreds used increases from 33% to 81% when the products being introduced are luxury products.
In advertising, the evil role of the cat is only highlighted when the advertisement needs to be dramatic. Cats, therefore, are perceived as having a good name in our day and age, because advertisers would not choose an evil animal.
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