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Here is a classic commercial from Argentina that I have repaired after an informal request from the Argentine Association of Advertisers. This is the agency version because this version was seen in movie theaters only; on television the ad was always shown in black and white. And the jingle in radio stations lasted 15 second less, omitting the opening.

What a clever and catchy commercial! I'm still humming the jingle as I type this, and I actually understood most of the Spanish in this one, which brought back a happy childhood memory . . .

I spent a good part of my youth writing to the companies that made my favorite products, telling them how much I liked them, making suggestions, and even writing sample commercials (I watched a lot of TV). Besides the usual thankful letter, I sometimes got coupons or actual product samples. When I was around 12 years old, I wrote a letter to the Eveready company, telling them how much I liked their "Nine Lives" trademark with the black cat, and that they should use it more in their advertising. I even included some ad ideas.

A couple of months later, I got this important-looking letter with a return address I didn't recognize. It turned out to be from the ad agency that managed the Eveready account! The Eveready company had passed my letter to them, and they said they really liked my ideas, but couldn't use them -- something about "unsolicited submissions," as I recall. But they agreed about using the black cat more in their advertising, and it wasn't long after that that I saw a series of Eveready TV commercials that featured a black cat.

The Argentine ad came out about eight years after I wrote my letters, but I still like to think that a precocious 12-year-old kid thousands of miles away provided some indirect inspiration . . .

The agency may have been J. Walter Thompson, also different ones probably handled the Eveready brand in different parts of the world. (But I suppose that now there is a single agency for all countries in the world.)

The Eveready commercials are more fascinating when you compare them with versions from different parts of the world. In Argentina, the commercials had to have catchy jingles because the ads would play more on radio stations than on television.

I love to compile ads Eveready ads from different countries, in different languages... it impresses me the different ways to sell exactly the same product.

For animated versions of the cat here are a few:









and here is the original version of the Argentine ad, before I repaired it (I followed a radio version of the commercial that it is also available online for my restoration):