Meow Mix
 | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Pet food |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Headquarters | Decatur, Alabama, United States |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Cat food, cat health products |
| Owner(s) | Del Monte Pet Food Group |
| Website | www.MeowMix.com |
Meow Mix is a variety of dry and wet cat food known for its advertising jingle. It is a product of Del Monte Foods. Meow Mix was introduced in 1974 and sells many flavors too. It also is known for selling Alley Cat dry cat food. Their current slogan is "It's all about the mix".
Company background
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.” The company was acquired by The Cypress Group, a New York based private equity firm in a $425 million leveraged buyout in 2003. Three years later, Del Monte Foods acquired the company for $705 million.[1][2] Previously the company was also owned by J.W. Childs Associates which acquired the business in 2001 for $160 million.
Jingles
"The Meow Mix Theme" was written by Shelley Palmer in 1970 and performed by a singing cat. The idea came from Ron Travisano, at the advertising agency of Della Femina Travisano and Partners, who had the account with Ralston Purina in 1974. Travisano put together film footage with editor Jay Gold, looping images of a cat to make it look like it was singing. The music was then composed by Tom McFaul of the jingle house Lucas/McFaul, one of the major jingle-composing houses at the time. Working from Travisano's film, McFaul wrote and produced music to fit, with the actual meowing performed by professional singer Linda November.[3][4]
Travisano then came up with the idea of adding English subtitles, along with a bouncing ball pointing out the words, which were humorously just "Meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meowwwwww".[5] Later lyrics included English words such as, "I want tuna, I want chicken, Meow Mix flavors keep me lickin," "I like chicken, I like liver, Meow Mix Meow Mix please deliver!", or "So much talking, want more eating, meow meow meow meow please please feed me."
Products
Current
Dry Food
Original Choice: This flavor contains Chicken, Turkey, Salmon, and Ocean Fish and was introduced in 1974. It formerly contained Tuna, Liver and Chicken from 1974-1992. Ocean Fish was added to the mix in 1996. It was known as "Original" from 2001-2003.
Seafood Medley: This flavor was introduced around 2004 containing Tuna, Shrimp, Crab and Trout. It replaced the discontinued flavor Seafood Middles in 2005.
Hairball Control: Introduced in 2003, Hairball Control was introduced to prevent hairballs and according to an advertisement it said "Controlling hairballs as easy as feeding your cat". It features the same flavors as Original Choice, but with different shapes and red centers to help control hairballs.
Indoor Formula: This product was introduced in 2004 and has the same flavors as Original Choice but with the added taste of outdoor greens. It is meant for indoor cats.
Kitten Li'l Nibbles: Introduced in 2005, it is meant for kittens and has the same flavors of Original Choice but in smaller bites. It contains 37 essential nutrients that kittens need for healthier growth.
Tender Centers This is another dry flavor with two varieties, In the flavors of White Meat Chicken and Salmon and Tuna and White fish flavors, with a crunchy outside and a meaty inside.
Wet Food
Tender Favorites: This is half of the original Market Select line and was introduced in 2006 as Market Select. Varieties include Beef, Seafood and Poultry.
Savory Morsels: This is another half of the Market Select line. Like Tender Favorites, it has Seafood and Poultry flavors, but no beef.
Paté Toppers: Introduced in 2012, it joined Tender Centers as one of the 2 in one cat foods. It has the combination of meaty shreds and smooth pâté.
Variety Packs: Variety Packs usually consist of 12, 24 or 36 cups of wet food. Introduced in 2004 as Pleaser Packs, these packs have as much wet food for cats.
Treats
Ocean Explosion: Like all the treats, it was introduced in 2005, and contains Tuna, Ocean Fish and Salmon. It has tartar control.
Go Fish: This treat is moist, and contains Tuna and Ocean Fish.
Discontinued
Dry
Seafood Middles: Introduced in 2001, it contained Mackerel, Tuna and Centers with seafood flavor. It was discontinued in 2005 and was replaced by Seafood Medley.
Second Flavor (Blue Box): In 1979, Meow Mix introduced a second flavor combination to join the first flavor combo, and contained Beef, Liver and Kidney. In the commercial, it said that "cats had to meow twice for it". It was short-lived, and was discontinued in the early 80's.
Wholesome Goodness: Also a wet food, it was introduced in 2008, and was discontinued in 2010. The food was used in Meow Mix's game show, Think Like A Cat.
Wet
Wet Pouches Introduced in 2004, it was originally in 7 flavors, but 3 more were added later. The flavor line up as of 2006 was Hook, Line & Sinker, Cluck-a-Doodle-Doo, Fillet Meow, Upstream Dream, What's the Catch?, Deep Sea Delight, On a Wing & a Prawn, Surf'n Turf, Gobbliscious and Maine Attraction. These products were discontinued in 2007.
Treats
Kitty Catch: (2005-2008)
On The Range: (2005-2008)
Crustacean Crunch: (2005-2008)
Drumsticks: (2005-2008)
Surf and Turf: (2005-2008)
Unsafe Dolphin (marché noir): (2013)
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. It was possible that they would do a second season.
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.
Slogans
"Tastes So Good Cats ask for it by name." (1974-2008)
"It's all about the mix." (2008-2012, still used on packaging)
"The taste cats ask for by name." (2012-present)
"I want it MEOW." (2013)
Meow Mix Café
In 2004, Meow Mix had introduced a wet food line, and so they wanted cats to try it at The Meow Mix Café. It was only open for 5 days before it closed. It also sold toys for cats.
See also
References
- ↑ EQUITY FIRM BUYS CAT FOOD COMPANY FOR $425 MILLION. New York Times, October 15, 2003
- ↑ Del Monte to Buy Meow Mix And Sell Some Food Units. New York Times, March 3, 2006
- ↑ Gorfain, Louis (April 23, 1979). "Jingle Giants". New York Magazine.
- ↑ November, Linda (2011). "Jingle Lady". jinglelady.com. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
- ↑ McFaul, Tom (April 1, 2002). "Teaching the Pussy to Sing". tommcfaul.com. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
External links
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