Some people just really, really love their pets.
Distraught when her cat went missing last month, a woman in Portland, Ore., bypassed the usual neighborhood guerrilla flier campaign and went straight for the big time. She called the local CBS affiliate, KOIN-TV, and commissioned a TV spot to help in her search.
Dean Gustafson, a sales rep for the station, was taken aback. “We were a little bit hesitant from the beginning to do it,” he says. “But she was insistent that it was her right to have access to the airwaves. So we struck a deal.”
The woman, Joanne Pratt, already had a detective and a bloodhound working the case, and shelled out $4,000 for KOIN to produce and air the spot. It ran several times between Sept. 6 and 8 and consisted of a detailed description of the female tabby—light brown and black stripes, white paws, a tattoo inside her left ear—and the number of a local vet to call if viewers had any information.
Pratt kept the creative hijinks to a minimum, using only text in the commercial. (She had no photo of the cat.) Further proving that cost was no issue, she offered a $1,000 reward for the kitty’s safe return.
Several local news outlets picked up the story, but at press time the cat was still missing. Shoptalk had trouble determining if Pratt might roll out the spot to other markets in the Northwest, or perhaps put her account in review.
Those with info about the fugitive feline can still call (503) 283-1077. PHOTODISCICON SPORTS PHOTO/NEWSCOMPhototake/Picturequest
have you seen this cat?
