“Key West Six-Toed Cat Cam” Offers Unique Purr-spective
Somewhere in one of the many bars along Key West’s legendary Duval Street roams a six-toed cat named Aurora with a tiny video camera strapped to her furry head.
She’s no ordinary cat, though. First, the copper-colored feline is a direct descendant of the six-toed cats once owned by world-renowned author and former Key West resident Ernest Hemingway. In addition, Aurora is the star of the latest Key West television spot produced by Tinsley Advertising, the agency of record for the Florida Keys tourism council for nearly two decades.
With the tiny “cat cam” strapped to her head, Aurora takes the bars she visits by storm, capturing all the hoopla and revelry of Duval’s lively nightlife. Aurora struts from the funky Green Parrot Bar to Rick’s Bar to Sloppy Joe’s and other well-known local hot spots, giving viewers a cat’s-eye look at local musicians, scantily clad partiers toasting and dancing the night away and folks sitting at the bar enjoying cocktails.
Highlights include a brief appearance by local performer, diva and drag queen extraordinaire Sushi, accompanied by a fellow performer.
Aurora even licks her lips when she spots a tub of assorted seafood, including stone crab claws, lobster and oysters on ice.
Tinsley Advertising created the spot, as offbeat as the spirit of the Keys itself, in quirky contrast to their other commercials spotlighting the island chain’s natural beauty, water sports and unique architecture. With edgy cutaways to popular bars and familiar faces like Sushi, the Key West party atmosphere is expertly displayed — from Aurora’s point of view.
According to Tinsley’s creative director Dorn Martell, working with a feline made shooting tricky at times. Martell said a local “cat whisperer” was brought in to distract Aurora with noisemakers and treats (and that was just to get the camera strapped to her head!).
Not only is the “Key West Six-Toed Cat Cam” commercial appearing on TV in major U.S. cities. It’s also making waves and on YouTube and on the Keys Web site’s “Video of the Week” section, where viewers are doing double-takes, laughing out loud and replaying the piece again and again. To access the feline frolic and the Keys’ other “Video of the Week” segments, click here.
In fact, there’s only one thing more fun than watching the spot — and that’s following in Aurora’s six-toed footsteps and sampling Key West’s nightlife in purr-son.
Six-toed cat cam! « Men and Cats Said,
January 12, 2010 @ 7:44 pm
[...] of the most well-know ailurophiles) who owned a six-toed cat. My suspicion was confirmed by this website about the ad campaign, which states “the copper-colored feline is a direct descendant of the six-toed cats once [...]