I was browsing a magazine this morning, drinking tea and eating some excellent toast with almond butter and blueberry jam, when an ad caught my eye. It might have been the two very handsome cats that first stopped my eye, but it was the words that really caught my attention.
“New and improved Blue cat food is cat-preferred and mom-preferred.”
Eh? Mom-preferred? What was that supposed to mean? I’ve become so accustomed to advertisers talking over the heads of non-moms that my first thought was that moms liked the food because the natural ingredients would do no harm to Little Johnny if he decided to help himself to the cat’s dinner. But reading on I realized that the advertisers were speaking to “moms and their furry family members” – i.e. pet moms.
This struck me as smart advertising. As a cat-mom (but not a human-mom) this ad spoke directly to me and I appreciated that. On taking a closer look I also realized that human-moms weren’t excluded either. Very smart advertising. Of course the cat-dads were excluded, but as the magazine is geared to women, I doubt there would be many complaints.
Did the ad cause me to run out and buy this brand of food? Well no. My furry family member is a cat after all, and I can’t just go around changing things on a whim, but I appreciated the advertisers thinking outside of the mommy box and including those of us with only furry family members. Maybe they’re starting to realize that just because you’re a woman of a particular age, doesn’t automatically mean you’re a mom.
Your post made me google “Pet Parents” and guess what? We have a day!!! We have a day!!! The last Saturday in April is Pet Parents Day! Granted it was started by a pet insurance company, but I’ll take it! It was started in 2008 and I certainly hope it catches. I also happen to like the fact that it falls just before mothers day.
Ha! Sue, that’s great! I am going to make a note of this, so we can have a celebration of sorts. I love it. 🙂
I had a similar experience. When searching for a cookie recipe online, I landed on a site that had “Mom Ratings” of 1-5 stars. I was happy to know the cookies I chose had a 4.5 star Mom Rating, whatever that means! Has the regular star rating gone to the wayside, fallen prey to cooking moms (instead of just women…or people, for that matter)?