Meow Mix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Meow Mix is a popular variety of cat food, and is well known for its popular advertising jingle.
The Meow Mix Company operates from a 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m²) facility in Decatur, Alabama, and also produces Alley Cat brand cat food products. Originally a product of Ralston Purina, Meow Mix was divested for antitrust reasons in the early 2000s. The brand was acquired by Del Monte Foods in May, 2006. Their most famous slogan is, “Tastes so good, cats ask for it by name.”
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[edit] Jingle
Meow Mix is also well known for a popular advertising jingle used to promote the product.
The jingle was written by Shelly Palmer in 1970. The lyrics were, "I want tuna, I want chicken, Meow Mix flavors keep me lickin." In commercials, it was typically meowed by a cat, with English subtitles.
Also, now the jingle is either "I like chicken, I like liver, Meow Mix Meow Mix please deliver!" or "Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow" sung to the tune of the other jingles. These are also sung by cats meowing to the tune.
A clock was manufactured in early 2000, featuring the jingle playing every hour.
[edit] Popular culture references
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The jingle has become well known as part of American popular culture:
- In The Simpsons episode “The Boy Who Knew Too Much”, Homer “sings” the jingle when Bart reads his thoughts in court.
- In the near-final episode of TV sitcom Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, "Spellmanian Slip", when Harvey asks Salem if there's ever been a tune he can't get out of his head (referring to the "Harmony" mini-musical from earlier in the episode), he suggests the Meow Mix jingle, before sarcastically thanking him because "there it is again!".
- In the 1997 film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Dr Evil sings the jingle to try to lure his cat Mr Bigglesworth out of hiding. The lyrics were changed to “I want chicken, I want liver, Meow Mix, Meow Mix, please deliver.”
- Christian rock band Relient K used these lyrics on their demo version of their song "I'm Lion-O", but not in the final version.
- In episode 114 of Malcolm in the Middle from season 6, Malcolm plays and sings a song for his family that he wrote on guitar, after Lois insists he has no creative abilities. Dewey points out that the song follows the tune of the “Meow Mix” jingle, and the whole family starts to sing. His lyrics are: '"No one knows just what I've been through. No one knows the pain inside me. Now I'm staring out my window, children play, they seem so happy. Why are we here, going nowhere? Why does my life feel so empty?"
- Hip-hop group Board Bangers sampled the famous jingle in their song "Cause The Beat's Hot."
- The Venetian Snares album Songs About My Cats included a sample of the jingle on one of the tracks.
[edit] Meow Mix House
Meow Mix House was a reality TV show created by Meow Mix in the format of Survivor. Ten cats rescued from animal shelters nationwide (including the ASPCA in New York, Touched by an Animal in Chicago, and Kitten Rescue in Los Angeles) competed for a grand prize — an executive-level position with the Meow Mix Company. These three-minute reality TV segments aired on Animal Planet for ten consecutive weeks, beginning on June 16, 2006.
The cats were viewable full time via webcam and were adopted as they were voted off of the show, receiving a year’s supply of Meow Mix as a consolation prize. Weekly contest winners for areas such as “Best Purr” and “Greatest Post Climber” were decided by a panel of judges. Two winners were chosen — one through professional judges, and a second by TV viewers. The company stated that the winner received the title of Meow Mix’s “feline vice president of research,” as well as becoming part of a new family. A second corporate position was provided to the cat voted most popular by viewers.
Miami’s Cisco won the top prize of VP of R&D at Meow Mix, and Ellis from Portland won the title of viewers’ choice winner.
[edit] Think Like a Cat
In 2008, Meow Mix partnered with Game Show Network to create a new game show titled, Think Like a Cat, which debuts November 15, 2008. The game is divided into 4 rounds.
Round One: “Lightning Round”: Eight cats are standing in front of food. The first three to finish their bowl of food, or the three who finish the most food, move on.
Round Two: “Are You Smarter Than a Cat”: Six categories, five questions in each, point totals are 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50. All questions are general cat knowledge. Highest two scores move on.
Round Three: “Think Like a Cat”: The final two contestant’s cats are taped doing seven different situations. The contestants have to answer three questions based on the actions of the cat. The contestants, before each clip is shown, wager a portion of their points. You can’t wager more than half your points on the first two questions to stop people from going bankrupt. Highest score plays the end game.
Round Four: “Meow Mix Million Dollar Challenge”: Ten sealed Meow Mix bags of food with a different symbol inside are placed on the set. Only two bags have matching symbols, the other eight are unique. The human chooses one and the cat chooses one. If they match, they win $1,000,000. If not, they still win $25,000.
