Cat’s Meow (Moving Cat Toy) – A Marketing Review
A ferocious meow rips through the living room, sending you shivers and striking unimaginable fear into the depths of your heart.
You nervously look around and then spot your pet cat Missy sitting across the room. The cat’s tail steadily thumps the floor once every three seconds. Her normally bubbly and charming personality has been replaced by pure hatred. Next to the cat are the shredded remains of one your your socks. She must have snatched it from the laundry room when you weren’t looking.
Another sharp cry pierces the silence of the room, chilling you to the bone. As Missy continues to stare at you sharply with her emerald green eyes, only one thing is clear: The cat . . . is . . . pissed!
Is the cat upset because you took two days longer than usual to clean her litter box? Does she want a treat? Does Missy not approve of her toys?
The cat toys! That must be it. In the past month you’ve given the cat four different toys to help keep her amused, and she destroyed each of them. So far nothing has been able to amuse the cat and keep her entertained. Sitting in the cat’s box of toys is another shredded sock, the missing companion to the recently destroyed piece of fabric right next to the cat.
A quick thought flashes into your mind. You recall seeing a TV commercial for just such a cat toy. It advertised something about keeping your cat entertained and happy.
Cat’s Meow website — www.GetCatsMeow.com
There it is. The Cat’s Meow. It’s a motorized cat toy that claims to help keep a cat active and entertained.
Cat’s Meow TV commercial
Let’s take review the Cat’s Meow advertising and see just what it’s trying to sell to us.
Cat’s Meow TV commercial – The first rule of Cat Fight Club is that you do not talk about Cat Fight Club.
The Cat’s Meow TV commercial begins with a clip showing two cats playing and fighting with each other. Remember that cats commonly fight with each other as a form of entertainment as well as sharpening their natural hunting skills. This is a normal event for many multi-cat homes. It’s not a problem until cats become particularly aggressive and begin drawing blood.
According to the Cat’s Meow advertisement, cat fights are a bad thing and they can be prevented by giving the cats a fancy toy.
Cat’s Meow TV commercial – I have the strength of a thousand kittens!
We also see an example of a cat climbing a curtain while the owner is allegedly away from the room. As we know, cats love to climb things and as long as they have their front claws, then that will always be a potential problem. The same is true for cats using your furniture and other items as scratching posts.
Cat’s Meow TV commercial – The latest advancement in cat toys.
Allegedly the solution to solving the problem of bored cats, fighting cats, and cats climbing things and causing trouble is the Cat’s Meow. The Cat’s Meow is a motorized toy that simulates a mouse running and hiding from a cat. The toy mouse continually changes direction and speed, always keeping the cat guessing to what will happen next.
Cat’s Meow TV commercial – Time has no restrictions when it comes to a cat having fun.
The Cat’s Meow claims to keep your cat entertained both night and day. Keep in mind that there aren’t any lights on the motorized cat toy. If you place the toy in a dark area, your cat will have to rely on his or her senses to find and play with it. That is, if the cat isn’t too busy getting some sleep first. Our cat is normally sacked out when we go to bed.
Cat’s Meow TV commercial – Getting a cat’s attention without using treats.
With the push of a button the Cat’s Meow toy comes to life. The toy’s random motions are designed to capture the cat’s attention and inspire it to hunt and attack the toy. This takes advantage of a cat’s natural instinct. How often have you seen your pet cat stalk a bug crawling on the floor?
As with virtually every other toy in the market, this one claims to work with cats of all ages. This is a toy that inspires cats to pounce and try to snatch the “mouse.” No jumping or strenuous exercise is required.
Cat’s Meow TV commercial – I see you . . .
The moving part of the Cat’s Meow toy looks like a mouse, complete with a tail. The “mouse” always stays underneath the fabric shield and continually changes direction and speed. That’s just it though. Unless you pick up and move the Cat’s Meow around your home, then the cat knows that the “mouse” is always found right there under the round piece of fabric. Hopefully that won’t make a cat lose interest in the game.
Cat’s Meow TV commercial – The cat will never be bored . . . as long as somebody remembers to turn on the toy.
Again the advertisement is showing us how the Cat’s Meow toy randomly changes direction and speed. The commercial claims that “. . . your cat will never get bored.”
Oh, really?
A cat’s attention for a game like this is going to depend on a few factors. First of all, the cat knows to always find the mouse somewhere within that circle of fabic. It’s not like a toy mouse is creeping along the base of the walls and darting across open areas. Nor is it hiding in cupboards, underneath stairs or in basements and garages.
Second, for a “chase” toy like this one the cat has to be able to win. Ideal toys have the cat “winning” about once every three to six times it plays the game. The cat will quickly become bored if it either wins every time or always loses and can never catch the mouse. For the toy to be effective the cat has to be able to catch the “mouse” on a fairly regular basis.
Let’s also not forget that this is a battery-operated toy that requires somebody to press a button to activate it. That’s not necessarily a problem, but the cat is going to figure out that a person is needed if it wants to play with the toy.
Cat’s Meow TV commercial – If you call me fat I’ll rip out your lungs!
Up next the advertisement informs us that as cats age they “. . . can get sad and lazy, and that’s not healthy.” It’s implying that these fat cats also aren’t healthy.
Older cats who are lazy can still be very healthy. Our cat who turns ten this year is incredibly lazy. He sleeps most of the day and loves his treats and meals. But our cat is fed appropriate food and he’s in excellent health. His annual health exams are nearly flawless. He loves it when we give him attention and he still pounces bugs regularly and behaves like a normal cat. But he is sleepy and lazy for most of the day.
This part of the commercial is implying that the Cat’s Meow toy will suddenly inspire the older and lazy cats to get up and have some fun, changing them back into an energetic kitten. In a way this can be compared to how the Nintendo Wii gaming console got lazy teenagers off their butts and moving around the room while playing video games. If it works then it works. Just remember there’s no guarantee that your cat will express any interest in this motorized toy.
Cat’s Meow TV commercial – Implying that your cat will still be interested in the toy.
The Cat’s Meow is made of a durable nylon and the toy will last for years. My concern would be the motor gradually slowing and being less effective. You know that the motor will continually be resisted as the “mouse” moves underneath the fabric. It’ll hit more resistance when the cat catches the toy and when the cat is sitting on the fabric. All of that resistance adds up over time and will wear out the motor.
More importantly, how often can you expect to change the batteries in the Cat’s Meow? What size of batteries does it require? How many of them?
Cat’s Meow TV commercial – “Are you not entertained?” the cat asks the crowd.
Near the end of the commercial we’re again reminded that kitty will love playing with the Cat’s Meow toy. It’ll also keep you and your kids happy while watching the cat(s) play and try to catch the “mouse” as it runs underneath the fabric circle. At least the kids are actually spending time with the cat instead of ignoring poor thing.
Cat’s Meow TV commercial – How much money will you spend to give your cat some moments of happiness?
After that we’re hit with the buy-one-get-one free promotion. All we have to do is pay a separate postage & handling fee for the “free” Cat’s Meow toy.
The TOTAL COST of the Cat’s Meow promotion is a whopping $35.89 ($19.99 + $7.95 P&H + $7.95 P&H (for the “free” item)). Oh, but this isn’t just for two of the Cat’s Meow toys. The product’s website claims that we’ll also be receiving a free mystery gift. Does that sweeten the deal and entice you to pull out your credit card? Oooooh. A mystery gift. How fun!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Many pet owners are notorious for spending extravagant amounts of money for their pets. In some cases their pets aren’t merely animals but children, members of their family. These pets are placed on a pedestal and lavish amounts of money can and will be spent on them.
In this article we’re discussing housecats and a product that allegedly entertains and amuses them. The Cat’s Meow is a moving toy that is powered by a battery-operated motor. The toy somewhat behaves like a mouse and scurries back and forth while underneath a piece of fabric, spiking a cat’s curiosity and natural instinct to hunt.
This is also a product that requires a human to press a button to activate it. But that’s all we really know. We don’t know if the Cat’s Meow has some sort of timer so that it doesn’t stay running all night and drain its batteries. Speaking of the batteries, we don’t know what size and how many it requires. Neither the commercial or the product’s website provides NONE of that sort of useful information.
To me, it seems like the Cat’s Meow is a toy that isn’t quite ready to be an optimum toy for cats. Keep in mind that my opinions are formed on what little information is presented in both the TV commercial and the product’s extremely simple website.
For starters, it would be better if the toy had a mode so that it basically turned itself on and off at random moments. It would also help if there was some sort of short-range motion detector that would activate the motor whenever a cat was nearby.
The Cat’s Meow is a cat toy that still requires human interaction. A person has to place the toy in a safe area for the cat to play. Unless it’s stated elsewhere, a person has to not only turn on but also turn OFF the product. Therefore it’s a person who decides WHEN a cat will play, and not the cat itself.
Are you going to leave the Cat’s Meow running all day while you’re out running errands?
Are you going to leave the toy running all night while you’re asleep?
Leaving it continually running allows the cat to choose when it wishes to play with the toy, but this can also bore the cat as it’ll quickly learn that it’s just a simple toy and not a real rodent. The cat will also always know where to find the toy, again possibly boring the cat.
Remember that no two cats are alike, and what amuses one may not necessarily amuse another cat. Our housecat is approaching ten years old. He’s incredibly lazy but in great physical and mental health. He also doesn’t destroy our curtains or furniture as he was de-clawed in his front claws when he was just a kitten. Our cat loves playing with empty plastic bags (the cheapest toy ever) as much as lengths of fabric hanging down from clothes. He’ll also play with small plastic balls and roll them across the floor, meowing at us whenever they get stuck under the coffee table.
But that’s our cat. His personality is different than yours.
The big question is, how much money are you willing to spend for the happiness of your pet(s)?
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All of the Cat’s Meow commercial images are screenshots of a TV commercial currently available on YouTube and the product’s website. For more product information, please visit the company’s website at www.GetCatsMeow.com.
Cat’s Meow is a registered trademark.
RellimZone.com is not affiliated with Cat’s Meow.