# Decapitated cat in Ford ad **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 7, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796 "2004-04-07T19:18:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/61 "2004-04-08T15:50:18Z")
> [@jacksen9](#): > > Some may think I am too easily offended, uptight, riled up, misguided, have priorities out of place, reactionary, silly, stupid, or have a stick in my ass. > > OK. So. I wasn’t trying to give you a hard time, I just couldn’t understand what you were getting at with the whole apology thing. I see your point now. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/62 "2004-04-08T18:09:36Z")
Do the Fosters ads not run in America (the British ones, with a bungee jumper having his head pulled off by a crocodile, a large pelican swallowing a womans head and an eagle or some other bird of prey ripping a mans head off)? I’m inclined to think that the same sort of fuss would not have been made about those adverts (it certainly wasn’t the case in the UK, from what I can tell). Why does the victim being a cat change anything? ---
**Author:** ![Bojangles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@Bojangles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bojangles)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/63 "2004-04-08T19:13:01Z")
> [@+MDI](#): > > … > > I’m inclined to think that the same sort of fuss would not have been made about those adverts (it certainly wasn’t the case in the UK, from what I can tell). Why does the victim being a cat change anything? Because there are many many people who, for some reason, find the simulated death of an animal unacceptable, whilst still finding the simulated death of a human, (or possibly even the actual death of a human) unworthy of comment. I can’t tell you, Americans, how grateful I am to you for inventing the phrase “stick in your arse” - it describes this sort of worthless, up-tight, posturing so beautifully. This board has so totally reversed my opinion of the USA. I am so pleased that somewhere amongst the 190 million of you - there are such funny, worldly and out-and-out left wing Yanks. Thanks - I am not being sarcastic - you have really cheered me up in these days of anti-American feeling. xxx (I refer of course to those endorsing the advert… Those against: pull that stick out of your arse) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/64 "2004-04-08T21:34:35Z")
> [@Bojangles](#): > > I can’t tell you, Americans, how grateful I am to you for inventing the phrase “stick in your arse” Get it right, buddy. It’s “shove it up your **ass** ” damnable euoropeeners, always misprunouncin’ stuff … whoever heard of an arse? Boy howdy, I tell you what…t’aint got the sense god gave a 'coon-hound. FLUMDIDDLE! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/65 "2004-04-08T22:54:05Z")
Pet owner and animal lover here. I found both clips laugh-out-loud funny, and the very length and detail that grossed people out on the cat one just made it funnier to me. For what it’s worth, I am a 48 year old woman, not a teenaged boy who likes toilet humor and fart jokes. I agree, not the best thing to show a young child who can’t tell the difference between a silly story and reality, but other than that, I have no problem with it. I also happen to think the car is cool looking. Why can’t we get those things over here? Oh well, at least we’ve got the Mini now, if you want to pay $20K for a car… ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/66 "2004-04-09T00:02:08Z")
I didn’t find the pigeon one all that funny either (I’ve only seen stills from the cat one) … I’ve seen the “bungee jumper getting his head bitten off” ad, and didn’t think that was much fun either. Now that one where the cat sneezes and all it’s fur flies off … ROFLMAO (see other advert thread somewhere else - don’t look at me, I haven’t got a link!) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/67 "2004-04-09T02:05:35Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Everyone has a pet injustice (no pun intended.) What does it have to do with this ad? > > In other words, “Sure. What’s your point?” So, what’s the injustice in that commercial? Cruelty to pixels? ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/68 "2004-04-09T02:15:59Z")
No necessary injustice. That wasn’t my point. I think it’s tasteless and unfunny - not unjust. I was saying that there was no reason think, a la **Standup Karmic** ’s implication, that one could not be both upset by the plight of cocoa workers (or textile sweat shop workers, or underage Thai sex workers, or any of a million other things) and revolted by the Ford ad. The “pet injustice” phrase referred to **Standup Karmic** ’s cocoa workers, not the cat in the ad. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/69 "2004-04-09T03:12:05Z")
I think the people here promising to boycott Ford are missing an important point: Ford not only didn’t make the commercial, they rejected the idea when the Ad agency (Ogilvy & Mather) proposed it. If you want an effective boycott, stop buying products from any company that uses O&M for their ads, and let those companies know exactly what you’re doing. Of course, since I work with an ad agency (not O&M), it’s in my financial interest to get as many people as possible to boycott a competitor. Personally (and I’m a cat-lover), I found both ads hilarious, as did most of the other people in my office who saw it. We were also pretty impressed with the whole ‘viral marketing’ concept. ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/70 "2004-04-10T01:42:23Z")
Does anyone know where I can watch this ad? I’ve searched for it, but it seems to have completley vanished. It couldn’t have been taken off the net indefinately. Surely it’s out there somewhere… Does anyone have a link? ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/71 "2004-04-10T02:07:12Z")
Well, I have two cats and thought it was funny. Certainly preferable to the screaming pitchman that characterized car ads for decades. Put it on late night and I would have no problem with it. I would even welcome it as an alternative to another goddamn Toyotathon. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/72 "2004-04-10T02:53:36Z")
> [@JoeSki](#): > > Does anyone know where I can watch this ad? I’ve searched for it, but it seems to have completley vanished. It couldn’t have been taken off the net indefinately. Surely it’s out there somewhere… > > Does anyone have a link? Snopes has it, but one of their links was reporting “bandwidth limit exceeded”. > **[SportKa](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sportka/)** > > Does a Ford SportKa commercial show a cat being decapitated? ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/73 "2004-04-10T10:25:39Z")
**Sublight** , you are a king among men 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![Euthanasiast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Euthanasiast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euthanasiast)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/74 "2004-04-10T12:43:52Z")
> [@](#): > > However, the pigeon ad works because it depicts the car minding its own business and protecting itself from a would-be poop vandal. Actually both ads feature vehicles that are simply tired of minding there own business while animals do things to them. You ever seen a cat try to jump onto a car and miscalculate the needed power to clear the deck? I have scratches that nothing short of buffing the clearcoat by a professional will get rid of. Cats do more damage to cars than birds. This is a case of the car getting revenge. When I first saw this (about a month ago) my first response was, “man, that pretty black paint job is going to catch hell from that cat.” Then the car remedied the situation in an appropriate manner. Absolutely flawless commercial! I think the next commercial should show the exact same setting (house and everything) only this time a dog trots up and begins sniffing the tires. After a moment, he swings around and hikes up one of his legs. He pees on the car. The car does nothing. The dog trots off. The scene fades out. Fade in to later scene where the dog is asleep in the yard, minding his own business. From out of frame the car slowly eases in alongside him until the door is right beside him. The door pops quietly open and the cat’s head spills out and bounces beside the dog. The door closes the car eases off out of frame. Later still, family member (probably wife or child) observes dog lying next to cat head and screams running into the house. Fade out. Later again dog is carried by the collar around the back of the house right by the car, but the camera stops close on the car as the owner (husband/father) and dog move out of frame to the back of the house. Nothing happens for about 10 seconds. Then you hear a gunshot and a dog yelp. Then the evil twin title card comes up. Hell yeah! I could think of a dozen others where some kid walks by and keys the car at a mall parking lot, or an officer is attempting to install a boot on one of the tires because it is illegally parked, etc. The point is the car is tired of being oppressed by animals and people. Where is the sympathy for the car? WHERE IS THE SYMPATHY FOR THE CAR MAN?! Dudes, it’s fake. It has always killed me that their are so many praised movies that depict the horifying death of innocents including children, etc., but God help a film that allows a cuddly animal to get hurt. Movies like Independence day where the dog jumps into the room inside the tunnel just in the nick of time before the fire ball sweeps him away make me want to vomit. Tom & Jerry, we hardly knew ya. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/75 "2004-04-10T14:02:05Z")
> [@Euthanasiast](#): > > I think the next commercial should show the exact same setting (house and everything) only this time a dog trots up and begins sniffing the tires. After a moment, he swings around and hikes up one of his legs. He pees on the car. The car does nothing. The dog trots off. The scene fades out. Fade in to later scene where the dog is asleep in the yard, minding his own business. From out of frame the car slowly eases in alongside him until the door is right beside him. The door pops quietly open and the cat’s head spills out and bounces beside the dog. The door closes the car eases off out of frame. Later still, family member (probably wife or child) observes dog lying next to cat head and screams running into the house. Fade out. Later again dog is carried by the collar around the back of the house right by the car, but the camera stops close on the car as the owner (husband/father) and dog move out of frame to the back of the house. Nothing happens for about 10 seconds. Then you hear a gunshot and a dog yelp. Then the evil twin title card comes up. I like the way your mind works! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Infectious\_Lass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e56c9b/32.png) [@Infectious\_Lass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infectious_Lass)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2004, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/76 "2004-04-11T11:02:54Z")
Oh heck, I said in the bbq pit that I had posted for the last time, but I just have to stick my oar in here! My bf sent me this. He thought it was hilarious. I didn’t. I thought it was disturbing and I didn’t like it at all. As others have said it’s the way the cat struggles and the body sliding down afterwards. Those are unpleasant images. It really upset me. Bf couldn’t believe how soft I was being. He loves bad taste humour but he was incredulous that I hated it so. And **Bojangles?** I’m English, so revulsion at this is _not_ just an American thing, so that blows your theory out of the water. I feel the same way about the old story about some town in England hanging a monkey as a French spy centuries ago. Bf sent me a funny song about it and he was similarly incredulous that I couuldn’t bring myself to listen to it. Everyone in England seems to think that story is so hilarious. Yeah, a frightened terrified animal being slowly strangled to death because of ignorance, yeah that’s hilarious :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/77 "2004-04-11T13:04:37Z")
> [@](#): > > What’s a Ka? It’s one of those things with four wheels that you sit in and it takes you places. 😉 > [@](#): > > I love Monty Python-esque comedy, but that commercial is quite disturbing. But the Monty Python sketch where the guy is playing a tune by hitting mice with mallets is okay? 😕 Personally, I think it was hilarious. Obviously I would not feel that way if any real animals were harmed; but I knew that it was fake. I’ve worked on several films in varying capacities. It’s all in fun. I can name any number of films where horrible things happen and the audience is shocked; but in the end, it’s all make-believe. It’s okay to laugh. **And…** I think the SportKa is a nice looking car. I wouldn’t mind having one myself. > [@](#): > > The cat one loses out because it takes too long and as such the viewer is more likely to think “I bet that really hurts” rather than laugh. It’s called “crossing the pain barrier”. The idea is for the audience to laugh at the first instant of a painful situation, and then build on the tension by adding more pain. In one of the _Pink Panther_ films, a guy sticks his finger through a hole in the ceiling. Someone on the floor above steps on it. Funny. But _then_ the person does not step off of it. Cut to the floor below: The first man falls off of his stool and is hanging by his finger. Or take the classic “stepping on a rake” schtick. Someone (or some thing – IIRC, it happened to “Tom” from _Tom and Jerry_) steps on a rake, and the handle hits him in the face. Funny. But then have the person step on _another_ rake, and another, and another, and then show a vertitable minefield of rakes (see Sideshow Bob in _The Simpsons_). Or there’s Mr. Kreosote from _The Meaning of Life_ who vomits on the cleaning lady’s back not once, but _four_ times. “Crossing the pain barrier” is a classic technique. > [@](#): > > “Say Joe, that’s a sharp-looking car you’ve got!” > “Yeah, and an even sharper sunroof! It’s double-paned. See, the first pane pulls the cat, then the second pane…” Okay, I was laughing out loud at this. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/78 "2004-04-11T22:53:18Z")
I downloaded both the cat one and the pigeon one earlier (Mozilla doesn’t integrate these video thingies very well) and subsequently deleted them. I was able to download the bird again, but still need the cat. My nephew wanted to show it to his dad and they (the “Evil Ka” website) seem to have been overwhelmed by curious people. Is there an alternate link (or could somebody email me the Mpeg file)? –SSgtBaloo ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/79 "2004-04-19T19:08:53Z")
Of course, the Dopers remain ahead of the media on the story. Yesterday, the mass media finally got wind of this, a week after the last post by a Doper … > [@](#): > > **Ford Disavows Cat Decapitation Ad** > DEARBORN, Mich., April 18, 2004 > Ford Motor Co. is upset by the release of an Internet commercial that depicts a computer generated cat being decapitated, saying it didn’t authorize the proposed ad or its release. > > The ad for the Sportka, a hatchback sold in Europe, shows the realistic-looking orange cat climbing on top of the car and curiously poking its head into the open moonroof, The Detroit News reported Sunday. The moonroof slides closed and the cat struggles briefly to escape before its headless body slides to the ground. Source: [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/16/tech/main612354.shtml](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/16/tech/main612354.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796/80 "2004-04-19T23:56:04Z")
re: the cbsnews story, Is there any difference between a sunroof and a moonroof? And why call it a moonroof anyway? How am I supposed to get my butt way up there? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decapitated-cat-in-ford-ad/238796.md?page=5)