This famous spokes-animal had its own secretary
Back in 1968, 9-Lives cat food asked the Leo Burnett advertising agency to come up with a new television campaign.
Burnett, famous for creating the Jolly Green Giant, the Pillsbury Dough Boy and Tony the Tiger, wanted to personify the brand. The agency pitched an idea of creating a spokes-cat named Morris who was the most finicky cat in the world. He was so finicky, he would only eat 9-Lives cat food.
The next step was to find just the right cat.
Burnett hired an animal specialist named Bob Martwick to search for the perfect feline. He called the Humane Society and asked if they had any cats there with personality. The Humane Society said, as a matter of fact, they had a very charismatic tabby named Lucky. Martwick went to the shelter, liked Lucky and adopted him.
At the actual casting session, various shy cats were paraded out one-by one before the advertising agency, as they tried to find one with just the right look and personality. When it came to Lucky's turn, the tabby jumped up on the table, walked over to the art director and gave him a friendly head bump. The art director looked at Lucky and said, "He's the Clarke Gable of cats!" Lucky got the job, was re-christened "Morris" and the first commercial was filmed.
Between 1969 and 1978, Morris shot 58 commercials.
Morris the Cat became so popular, he was assigned a personal secretary to answer all the fan mail.
When he flew to events, he was put in an unmarked cage so fans wouldn't mob him at airports. The day he visited the Washington Post in 1973, he sat patiently on a desk while hardened journalists stood in line to pet him. He "wrote" three books and was the subject of another, titled: "Morris: An Intimate Biography."
He even made a couple of movies - including one with Burt Reynolds titled Shamus. Morris played the part of a cat.
When Morris died at the age of 17 in 1978, newspapers ran obituaries worldwide, including the New York Times. People called 9-Lives to ask where to send flowers. A funeral home asked if it could donate a tiny coffin.
Morris was voted one of the 10 greatest mascots of all time. And a Morris Million Cat Rescue Campaign named in his honour found homes for one million stray cats. Morris the cat made 9-Lives one of the best-selling cat foods in one of the most competitive categories. Proving it pays to be Lucky.
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