Post by Phrase Database

It must be challenging working for a product line whose parent company gets sold – and selects different creative agencies – multiple times. Take the cat food brand, Meow Mix. Introduced in 1973 by Ralston-Purina, a wordmark was filed, reading: “The Only Cat Food Cats Ask For By Name.” Its earworm jingle (written by Tom McFaul, not Shelly Palmer, as Wikipedia misstated until today for over 20 years) landed with a 1974 advert. That was the work of Della Femina Farren Kruger Advertising (Travisano). In July 1973, another wordmark: “Tastes So Good, Cats Ask For It By Name!” In 1984, a 10th-anniversary ad called “Claws Encounters” was run to celebrate that original jingle. We assume the agency was still Della Femina Travisano. In 1994, the first wordmark was re-classified with the USPTO, to fall under a more specific (Nice Agreement) category of animal foods. By 1998, there was the “Frank & Baxter” ad campaign, done up by Avrett Free Ginsberg. When Nestlé bought Ralston-Purina, government regulators said that the pet foods division had to be sold off to preserve market competition. A private equity firm called J.W. CHILDS ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP bought Meow Mix in 2001. Sales grew by introducing hairball control formulas and wet food pouches. Yet, in just two years, the brand was sold to Cypress Group LLC, for 2X+ its former purchase price. Only three years after that, Del Monte Corporation acquired the brand in 2006, for again nearly double the previous valuation. Del Monte brought in Foote, Cone & Belding to continue the ad campaigns. The jingle went on hiatus but revived in 2012 after brand research ranked it as the 2nd-most memorable jingle in America. (Guess what was the most familiar jingle in the Comments.) The wordmark variants kept being filed, too. “So Good And Wholesome Cats Ask For It By Name!” in 2008. “The Taste Cats Ask For By Name” in 2009. And “The Only One Cats Ask For By Name” in 2014 (which is still active). In 2014, Del Monte isolated its pet foods under the Big Heart Pet Brands label. That didn’t last long for Meow Mix, because it was grabbed by The J.M. Smucker Co. (along with other popular category brands like Milk-Bone) the very next year, for $3.2 billion. Also in 2015, three more wordmarks: “The Only Brand Cats Ask For By Name.” “The Only Treat Cats Ask For By Name.” “The Only Treats Cats Ask For By Name.” Smucker shifted some ad work from FCB over to Publicis Groupe, which “remixed” the Meow Mix jingle into R&B, Country, Metal, and Latin tracks. In Canada, a Meow-A-Thon campaign was handled by Leo Burnett Toronto. Another wordmark in 2023, too: “The Only Food Cats Ask For By Name”. Taglines in some TV spots didn’t exactly follow the protected wordmarks, either. Over the years we heard “The Wet Food Cats Ask For By Name”, “The New One Cats Ask For By Name”, and “Still The Only One Cats Ask For By Name.” If Phrase Database can dig this deep on cat food, imagine your brand with our help! #KeepLookingUp