Meow Mix: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|Cat food brand owned by The J.M. Smucker Company}}

| logo_size = 150

| imagelogo_caption = The current logo for Meow = Mix

| markets = Worldwide

| tagline = Tastes so good, cats ask for it by name.

'''Meow Mix''' is a varietyproduct of dry and wet [[catThe foodJ.M. Smucker Company]] known(as forof itsMarch advertising23, [[jingle]].2015); a Itvariety isof adry productand ofwet [[Thecat J.M. Smucker Companyfood]] asknown offor Marchits 23,advertising 2015jingle. Meow Mix was introduced in 1974 and sells many flavors, including "Original Choice" and "Seafood Medley". It also is known for selling "Alley Cat" dry cat food. Their current slogan is "it's the only brand cats ask for by name.".

The Meow Mix Company ofromoperates from a {{convert|200000|sqft|m²m2|adj=on}} facility in [[Decatur, Alabama]], and produces Alley Cat brand cat food products. Originally a product of [[RalstonNestlé Purina PetCare|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 [[Cypress Group]], a New York-based [[private equity]] firm in5in a $425 million [[leveraged buyout]] in 2003. Three years later, [[Del Monte Foods]] acquired the company for $705 million.<ref>[{{Cite news |date=2003-10-15 |title=COMPANY NEWS; EQUITY FIRM BUYS CAT FOOD COMPANY FOR $425 MILLION |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/15/business/company-news-equity-firm-buys-cat-food-company-for-425-million.html Equity Firm Buys Cat Food Company for $425 Million].|access-date=2024-07-02 |work=The New York Times, October|language=en-US 15, 2003|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/{{Cite news |date=2006/-03/-03/business/03meow.html |title=Del Monte to Buy Meow Mix Andand Sell Some Food Units] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/03/business/del-monte-to-buy-meow-mix-and-sell-some-food-units.html |access-date=2024-07-02 |work=The New York Times, March|language=en-US 3, 2006|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The company had also been owned by [[J.W. Childs Associates]] which acquired the business in 2001 for $160 million. On March 23, 2015, parent company Big Heart Pet Brands was acquired by [[The J.M. Smucker Company]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Corporate & Financial News Releases|url=http://www.jmsmucker.com/investor-relations/smuckers-financial-news-releases/article/2027898|website=Smucker Financial News - The J.M. Smucker Company|access-date=16 July 2015}}</ref> for $5.8 billion.<ref>{{cite web|title=Smucker to Buy Big Heart Pet Brands for $5.8 Billion

==JinglesJingle==

"''The Meow Mix Theme"'' was written by [[Shelly Palmer]] in 1970.<ref name=":0">{{citationCite web needed|date=October2010-03-23 2017|title=The All-Time Catchiest Commercials |url=https://www.womansday.com/life/entertainment/a1401/the-all-time-catchiest-commercials-104970/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Woman's Day |language=en-US}}</ref> The idea came from Ron Travisano, at the advertising agency of [[Della Femina Travisano and Partners]], who had the account with [[Nestlé Purina PetCare|Ralston -Purina]] in 1974. The first TV spot aired in 1974, and consisted of animals walking across the screen.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmvJ7ZHIYKo|title=Early Meow Mix commercial - 1970's (2K film scan)|date=August 16, 2018|publisher=In16mm|access-date=|archive-url=|archive-date=|via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> Travisano put together film footage with editor Jay Gold, looping imagesfootage of a cat, both in forward and reverse 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 filmaulfilm, McFaul wrote and produced music to fit, with the actual [[cat communication|meowing]] performed by professional singer [[Linda November]].<ref>{{cite news|work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|date=April 23, 1979|title=Jingle Giants|author=Gorfain, Louis}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jinglelady.com/|title=Jingle Lady|year=2011|access-date=June 10, 2011|author=November, Linda|publisher=jinglelady.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726142039/http://www.jinglelady.com/|archive-date=July 26, 2011}}</ref> Travisano then came up with the idea of adding English "translation" subtitles, along with a [[bouncing ball (music)|bouncing ball]] pointing out the words, which often reflected the specific flavor(s) of Meow Mix product being advertised and changed from commercial to commercial.<ref>{{cite web|title=Teaching the Pussy to Sing|url=http://www.tommcfaul.com/admusic/pussy.html|author=McFaul, Tom|publisher=tommcfaul.com|date=April 1, 2002|access-date=June 10, 2011}}</ref>

"The Meow Mix Theme" was used by the [[United States]] [[Central Intelligence Agency]] as part of [[Torture in the United States|torture]] and interrogation programs.<ref>{{cite web|title=How the CIA has used the Meow Mix jingle|url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/undertheinfluence/how-the-cia-has-used-the-meow-mix-jingle-1.5527594|date=April 9, 2020 |work=[[CBC.ca]] |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=August 10, 2023}}</ref>

* [[Nestlé Purina PetCare|Purina]]