Contact: Keith Fernbach
Grand Central Marketing
(212) 253-8777
keith@grandcentralmarketing.com


IT’S FOR REAL! MEOW MIX ANNOUNCES WORLD’S FIRST CAT REALITY SHOW

10 Cats to Live Together in a House and Vie for Job with The Meow Mix Company Reality show contestants will do anything to win. Whether it’s living on a deserted island, undergoing plastic surgery or eating cockroaches, they will stop at nothing to be the best. In the latest twist on the reality genre, competitors will be asked to lick themselves clean, chase balls of string, and relieve themselves in a litter box as they scratch and claw their way towards the grand prize. However, for these particular participants, accomplishing the tasks will be second nature. After all, they are cats.

Ten felines from shelters all over the country have been selected to compete in the inaugural edition of The Meow Mix House. The cats will travel to New York City and live together in a specially-designed house, located at 425 Madison Avenue, from June 13th to 23rd. These cat-testants, selected from geographically and culturally diverse backgrounds, will share a kitty crib that will rival any loft ever featured on the Real World. Thanks to webcams equipped in every room in the house, peeping tomcats with internet access will be able to go to www.MeowMixHouse.com to view all the action in real time—and find out just what cats do all day when their owners aren’t around.

Host Tom Shillue will lead the cats through a variety of reward challenges, including contests to see which kitty can purr the loudest, catch the most toy mice, and fall asleep the fastest. The cats will be evaluated based on their performance in the competitions, how they interact with the other cats in the house, and in general, their ability to prove themselves as “Meow Mix material.” Every day one cat will be evicted from the house, until only the pick of the litter remains. All the kitties in the Meow Mix House are winners, however, since whichever puss gets the boot will then be adopted into a permanent home, and receive a one-year supply of Meow Mix as a consolation prize.

In addition to winning a new life with a new family, the last cat standing will also receive a job working for The Meow Mix Company as Feline Vice President of Research and Development. He or she will be responsible for taste testing and offering valuable feedback on new Meow Mix product launches and line extensions. Fans of the show will also be able to vote for their favorite feline at www.MeowMixHouse.com, with the “viewers’ choice” winner also receiving a job with the company, regardless of how he or she performs in the competitions.

Cats from shelters or rescue groups in ten cities have been selected to compete in the inaugural show. They include Touched by an Animal (Chicago); Operation Kindness (Dallas); Houston Humane Society (Houston); Kitten Rescue (Los Angeles); Nashville Humane Association (Nashville); The Cat Network (Miami); ASPCA (New York); P.A.L.S. (Philadelphia); Cat Adoption Team (Portland, OR); and the St. Charles Humane Association (St. Louis). Working with local animal shelters, Meow Mix will pre-select a family in each city to adopt the cats after their tenure in the house ends.

The Meow Mix Company will be producing the show along with Grand Central Marketing, Meow Mix's event marketing and promotion agency, and MMB, Meow Mix's advertising agency. All the action will be filmed inside the Meow Mix House and packaged into a series of episodes. Since not everyone can understand what cats are saying, voice-overs will be used to help translate the meows into English. The show will air weekly on Animal Planet in a series of 10 three-minute episodes, starting Friday, June 16, and run for 10 consecutive weeks.

Although reality television may seem an unlikely departure for a company known primarily for its cat food, Meow Mix CEO and Top Cat Richard Thompsonexplains that the show is a logical extension for the brand.

“At Meow Mix, we are cat people first and foremost,” said Thompson. “We all own cats, we love cats, and we’ve been making great-tasting cat food for over 30 years. You might say we’re the industry leader in understanding cats. If anyone has the insight to explore the reality of cats’ lives, it would certainly be us.” Meow Mix will use the reality show as a platform to showcase its products. The cats will be eating Meow Mix Indoor Formula and the brand’s newest offering, Meow Mix Market Select wet food, which comes in easy-open cups. In addition, the company’s new line of cat treats will be offered to winners of reward challenges.

This is not the first time Meow Mix has launched a groundbreaking promotion for cats. In 2004, the company opened the Meow Mix Café, the first-ever restaurant for cats and their owners. Located in the heart of midtown Manhattan, the café served up gourmet meals to thousands of patrons of both the two and four-legged variety during its two-week trial run. The prior year, Meow Mix created Meow TV, the first television show for which cats were the target audience.

Dr. Lewis Berman, one of the country’s best-known and most-respected animal practitioners, will examine all of the cats before they come to live in the house. In addition, he and his associates at Park East Animal Hospital will be on call 24 hours a day in the event that any of the cats need medical assistance. In addition, a representative from the American Humane Association will be present at all times during filming to ensure the well-being of the cats.

Several sponsors will be donating furniture, accessories, and services to The Meow Mix House, including Cats Rule, who will provide bowls, litter mats, and litter scoops, and Hartz Mountain Corporation, which is supplying cat accessories. Fat Cat Inc. is supplying cat toys and beds, and Lucky Litter is donating scoop free automatic litterboxes. Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts will provide hotel accommodations for all shelter volunteers who are accompanying the cats to and from New York.

About Meow Mix: The Meow Mix Company, headquartered in Secaucus, NJ, is the maker of Meow Mix® brand cat food. Meow Mix dry cat food varieties include Original Choice, Seafood Medley, Hairball Control Formula, Indoor Formula and Kitten Formula. Meow Mix also has a line of wet food pouches including What's the Catch?; Upstream Dream; Cluck-a-Doodle-Doo; and On a Wing and a Prawn among others. In 2006, the company introduced Meow Mix® Market Select™, a new line of wet food that comes in easy-open plastic cups. The company also makes a line of cat treats, including Kitty Catch and Ocean Explosion among others. In addition, the Company also manufactures and markets Alley Cat® brand dry and wet cat food.