Ford: Cat Killed in Ad Agency's Bowels. Yeah, Right!

Why did the cute little cat lose its head? Because an evil Ford Sportka sunroof chopped it off.

With its kitty snuff film of a Sportka commercial spreading virally on the Internet, Ford has issued a truly dim statement claiming, yet again, that it really didn't want the video to be released by the ad agency. Yeah, right. Thou dost protest way to much!

If Ford and Ogilvy would just shut up, the whole thing would blow over. The very nature of viral marketing is that one campaign gets attention until another, better or more outrageous one comes along. Everyone's into the subservient chicken this week!

Or maybe, heh heh, Ford really wants to keep the dead cat thing going. Lame. Lame. Lame. Where's PETA when you really need them?

According to Ford this ad was done by Ogilvy & Mather "as a proposal somewhere deep down in the bowels of the agency, as soon as we saw it we said absolutely not. We are appalled - this is not something we want to be associated with."

Yeah? Then how come the video is six figure budget professional quality? And why is credit for the photograph above "Ogilvy & Mather?" Did they just happen to take that picture by accident or was it done for the marketing campaign?

Ogilvy's PR statement is equally dim. "Both companies find this unofficial advertisement totally unacceptable and reprehensible,'' the statement said. "The action in the video clip was totally computer generated, and we would like to assure you that no animal was harmed in its making."

Revolution Magazine noted that Ford's viral ad is similar to several Foster's TV spots, where bungee jumper loses his head to a crocodile. That ad attracted 184 complaints but escaped a ban. Another showed a reporter losing his head to a pelican but the journalist attracted only 15 votes of sympathy.

It is the second time that a SportKa viral campaign has upset animal lovers. In an earlier execution, a freshly washed convertible takes revenge on a pigeon that is about to leave its mark by flicking up its top, sending feathers flying.

However, says Revolution, with pigeons not enjoying the same level of affection among the wider public as cats, it was only the Royal Pigeon Racing Association that failed to see the funny side. The aim of the campaign is to position SportKa as the "evil twin" of the more staid Ka. The vehicles are not sold in the US.

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