Catvertising

Catvertising is the use of cats in advertising. Although cats have been used in advertising for many years, the technique was first given its own name in about 1999.[1] The term, a blend word from cat and advertising, increased in popularity beginning in 2011 as a result of a parody of commercialization of cat viral videos by the advertising agency john st. in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] It was nominated for a Webby Award in 2012.[13] The video was part of a series of spoofs beginning with "Pink Ponies: A Case Study", then Catvertising, and finally "Buyral" (a blend of "buy" and "viral").[12]

Adverisment for Black Cat Cigarettes from the early 20th century

This style of advertisement is sometimes simply referred to as a "cat commercial".[14]

A University of Arizona marketing team competes under the name "Catvertising".[15][16]