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Meow Mix
Product typeCat food
OwnerJ.M. Smucker
CountryUnited States
Introduced1974; 50 years ago (1974)
MarketsWorldwide
TaglineTastes so good, cats ask for it by name.
Websitewww.meowmix.com

Meow Mix is a variety of dry and wet cat food known for its advertising jingle. It is a product of The J.M. Smucker Company as of March 23, 2015. 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."

Overview

The Meow Mix Company operates from a 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m2) facility in Decatur, Alabama and 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 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] 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[3] for $5.8 billion.[4]

Jingles

"The Meow Mix Theme" was written by Shelly Palmer in 1970.[citation needed] 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. The first TV spot aired in 1974, and consisted of animals walking across the screen.[5] 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.[6][7] Travisano then came up with the idea of adding English "translation" subtitles, along with a 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.[8]

Use in torture

"The Meow Mix Theme" was used by the United States Central Intelligence Agency as part of torture and interrogation programs.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ Equity Firm Buys Cat Food Company for $425 Million. New York Times, October 15, 2003
  2. ^ Del Monte to Buy Meow Mix And Sell Some Food Units. New York Times, March 3, 2006
  3. ^ "Corporate & Financial News Releases". Smucker Financial News - The J.M. Smucker Company. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  4. ^ "Smucker to Buy Big Heart Pet Brands for $5.8 Billion". February 3, 2015.
  5. ^ Early Meow Mix commercial - 1970's (2K film scan). In16mm. August 16, 2018 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ Gorfain, Louis (April 23, 1979). "Jingle Giants". New York.
  7. ^ November, Linda (2011). "Jingle Lady". jinglelady.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
  8. ^ McFaul, Tom (April 1, 2002). "Teaching the Pussy to Sing". tommcfaul.com. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
  9. ^ "How the CIA has used the Meow Mix jingle". April 9, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2023.

External links

The J.M. Smucker Company
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