Weeeeeeee!!!

April 17, 2003 11:28 AM

Like cats? Like fans? Here’s a little pre-Friday fun for those who want a good laugh.
posted by Bag Man (52 comments total)

Wow, imagine that. A cat on a fan. Never seen that.
posted by aeiou at 11:34 AM on April 17, 2003

it's worth pointing out that that video is from a Nokia commercial, and the fact that later in the video there's evidence of that gives people the peace of mind that the video was fake, probably CGI...

some folks who thought they'd try and scare people seem to have removed all references to the fact that it's a nokia commercial, including the part where the shot zooms out and you see the guy recording the incident on his nokia phone's built in digital camera...

I don't care so much that nokia's not getting credit for the funny video as I do that PETA people will go even more insane over this thinking it's real than they would thinking it's not real but promotes animal cruelty.. heh..
posted by twiggy at 11:35 AM on April 17, 2003

Fake or no, every time I see this I want to run home and give my special girl a dreat beeeg huggle, cause she's my ickle baby and I wanna keep her safe.

(Just, you know, in the interest of giving everyone diabetes.)
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 11:38 AM on April 17, 2003

"Given the western world's sensitivity to the treatment of animals (particularly common pet species such as cats and dogs), not many companies would try to sell their product using such an ad unless they were deliberately engaged in the gambit of generating attention through negative publicity. Indeed, the video is not a legitimate Nokia commercial, and Nokia's head of marketing for Australia denounced it thusly: 'I see it as damaging for our brand -- it breaks all of our advertising guidelines.'"
posted by azimuth at 11:41 AM on April 17, 2003

Whether or not it's real, it is sick
posted by Outlawyr at 11:45 AM on April 17, 2003

Have you seen the woman golfer kissing that trophy? That was awesome.
posted by machaus at 11:46 AM on April 17, 2003

Friday fun

I thought I could stay away from those annoying words by reading Metafilter on Thursday. Seems I was wrong. Nothing personal, Bag Man, but the whole damn Friday (Flash) Fun meme has GOT TO STOP.
posted by drinkcoffee at 12:01 PM on April 17, 2003

drinkcoffee: I disagree with you. While I don't think this post is particularly funny, I love Friday Flash Fun. Sometimes MeFi is waaaaay too stuffy and full of itself. We need some levity here. Maybe you should just not visit the site on Fridays.
posted by VelvetHellvis at 12:11 PM on April 17, 2003

Jeeze -- its not like they shoved the cat in the blender. I think the "sickest" thing about it is the cat's dismount, but the event is couched in concern -- "stop the fan!" No animal cruelty involved, the cat incidentally made contact, stuff like that happens all the time.

And really, how could you not see that and think its anything other than CGI. Your average house fan does not have the power or the torque required to accelerate a cat in such a manner. Its modern day cartoons...lighten up.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 12:12 PM on April 17, 2003

VelvetHellvis: I can't speak for Drinkcoffee, but my problem with "Friday fun" is the tag, not the content. Flash/fun is welcome everyday as far as I'm concerned. Maybe I'll pop over to MeTa...
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 12:15 PM on April 17, 2003

Man, people are way too touchy.

I have two cats and I love them to death. But if one of them were to get snagged on a ceiling fan, spin around a few times, and come off of it without a scratch, I'd be kicking myself for not getting it on video.
posted by bondcliff at 12:18 PM on April 17, 2003

I understand this was faked, but I can definitely see my cat doing something equally stupid. Immediately followed, of course, by the "I didn't do that, I meant it that way, you saw nothing" look.
posted by whatzit at 12:36 PM on April 17, 2003

Lighten up. That was pretty funny, fake or not.
posted by tomorama at 12:41 PM on April 17, 2003

"Its modern day cartoons"
It's the opposite of a cartoon. A cartoon looks like a cartoon, it looks fake, so you can laugh at things that in real life would not be funny. But this looks like (and might be) real life. I'm not saying ban it or make it illegal, or it's the most horrible thing ever. But I do think it's sick and not really a "good laugh".

A sick laugh.
posted by Outlawyr at 12:46 PM on April 17, 2003

Um... outlawyr... I don't mean to be rude, but it's not 1996 anymore.

You don't have to act like that to get laid these days.
posted by jon_kill at 12:58 PM on April 17, 2003

Fart and poop jokes are kinda sick too, but I still think they're a "good laugh."
posted by gramcracker at 12:58 PM on April 17, 2003

Stupid cat.

Good cameraman.
posted by DragonBoy at 1:01 PM on April 17, 2003

It's NOT REAL.. See Ogre Lawless' post on ceiling fan power... Please use your head. If in doubt turn off your ceiling fan, have someone hold a blade, and turn it on. Their fan seemed to be on a medium speed. Try yours on high. See?
posted by Nauip at 1:03 PM on April 17, 2003

Nauip is correct. I had to hook my ceiling fan up to my lawnmower before it was powerful enough to twirl my cat around.
posted by bondcliff at 1:09 PM on April 17, 2003

Totally fake.

In real life cat misadventures are not nearly so dramatic. An ex-roommate's cat used to run full-tilt down our tiled hallway, skid the last few feet, slam into the wall - then back up and do it again. For a half hour at a time.
posted by orange swan at 1:14 PM on April 17, 2003

Snopes.com debunks it.
posted by some chick at 1:36 PM on April 17, 2003

Last summer I watched a cat jump onto a neighbour's patio umbrella. The cat ran, the umbrella spun, the cat ran faster, the umbrella kept spinning. The cat dismounted, inelegantly, landing in some bushes. Sorry, no video.
posted by xiffix at 1:51 PM on April 17, 2003

Hey gramcracker, pull my finger!
posted by homunculus at 2:09 PM on April 17, 2003

"You don't have to act like that to get laid these days"

Ouch.

Why did no one tell me this earlier?
posted by Outlawyr at 2:39 PM on April 17, 2003

I think we need to understand that Snopes is debunking the fact that this is an officially-sanctioned Nokia commercial. They offer no opinions on whether or not the cat is real.
posted by WolfDaddy at 2:51 PM on April 17, 2003

Oh yeah, sorry. I had to run to a meeting so my comment was terser than it should have been.

Is there evidence on that clip that it's CG, or is it just a stuffed cat? I originally thought stuffed cat, but I don't really know how to tell if something's CG (yes, I am the ideal marketing target audience..).
posted by some chick at 3:08 PM on April 17, 2003

"Try yours on high. See?"

The flaw in your reasoning is that you assume this is a normal fan. It doesn't need to be. Since this is part of a commercial we should conclude that the fan was put together by the prop department.

And I'm pretty sure this is a real cat. Cats love doing stuff like this. Animal lovers seem fixated on the idea that cats are fragile, dainty creatures. The reality is that cats are among the most advanced and sadistic carnivores on the planet. Have you ever seen your cat play with a half dead mouse? Cats are pure evil. They might seem cute and cuddly, but in reality they are cruel and sadistic.
posted by y6y6y6 at 3:11 PM on April 17, 2003

And, of course, they hate you.
posted by coelecanth at 3:17 PM on April 17, 2003

Regardless of whether Nokia "officially" endorsed this ad, they have gotten a ridiculous amount of word-of-mouth as a result of its circulation. This video is the most forwarded thing I've seen in a while... complete with people forwarding the entire thing via e-mail.

The fact that it only showed up on Metafilter today probably shows that there's even more publicity to come.

Ugh. This sort of viral advertising is so frustrating, because there's little that can be done to stop it, and there's no incentive for Nokia to take credit for it, whether or not they are responsible. You can't boycott them for it because they claim to not be responsible.

It's out there, it's generating publicity, and it (supposedly) cost them nothing. Welcome to advertising2k. We've all just helped it along its way...
posted by VulcanMike at 3:18 PM on April 17, 2003

Cats are the last remaining minority that it's OK to ridicule.
posted by sixpack at 3:20 PM on April 17, 2003

The fact that it only showed up on Metafilter today...

Well, actually a month ago...
posted by turaho at 3:25 PM on April 17, 2003

Get over it VulcanMike, it's funny.
posted by xmutex at 3:27 PM on April 17, 2003

What kind of bizzaro-land fan has a pull-string that is attached to the fan blades? Forget motor power... if a cat got caught on a real fan pull-string, it would just hang there, not fly around the room.
posted by 4easypayments at 3:50 PM on April 17, 2003

...and it's funny. doh.
posted by VulcanMike at 4:12 PM on April 17, 2003

this one wouldnt have been viral marketing if some people hadn't mentioned nokia.
There are no references to phones in that video...
posted by Iax at 4:28 PM on April 17, 2003

Iax, the original video zoomed out at the end to show that it was being recorded on a Nokia phone, then went to a Nokia splash screen. This version has that part removed.
posted by some chick at 5:35 PM on April 17, 2003

The background cat giving the paw has been around for awhile. I used to have it as my background at work. My new colleagues just wouldn't see the humor in it. Assholes.

The fan cat on the other hand is new to me. Makes me thankful that all my cats do is eat, sleep, and poop.
posted by Juicylicious at 5:36 PM on April 17, 2003

What kind of bizzaro-land fan has a pull-string that is attached to the fan blades?

Excellent point, 4easypayments.
posted by onlyconnect at 5:56 PM on April 17, 2003

Let's see. A 10 lb cat swinging at high speed around a ceiling fan, yet said fan does not wobble. I have one blade slightly heavier on my fan, and it wobbles at low speed. Laws of physics violated = fake video.
posted by hockeyman at 6:41 PM on April 17, 2003

It is funny. Very funny. Regardless the opinion of tightasses in this crowd. :-P

I once tried balancing my ceiling fan using pennies taped to the top of the blade. Worked wonderfully, until the day they flew off at high speed. My god, it was like being in WWIII. Shrapnel ricocheting off the walls everywhere.

Favourite cat comedy story: Friend's cat that ate tinsel. The next day was horrorshow as the panicked cat raced around the house desperately trying to get away from the turd-covered ass-attacker that was following it... a half-dozen poops strung out on the tinsel like an obscene xmas decoration.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:47 PM on April 17, 2003

I'll beat you with a dog story, fff:

A friend of mine was dog sitting a very large, usually very happy to see you golden retriever, but one day, he just laid on the floor, and didn't move a lot (the dog, not the friend). The friend waits a day, and is about to take the dog to the vet when the dog goes outside and poops out...

...wait for it...

an entire beach towel.
posted by gramcracker at 7:00 PM on April 17, 2003

Favourite cat comedy story: ... by five fresh fish

Omg that's funny. I so want to share that with my cat friends...but damned if I can come up with a context in which to say, "Wow, I just read the funniest cat poop story...".
posted by dejah420 at 7:01 PM on April 17, 2003

strange foreign objects in dog feces
posted by madamjujujive at 8:35 PM on April 17, 2003

Does anybody else get a huge kick out of this commercial? I believe it's for SouthWest Airlines. Everybody in the neighborhood is taking off to take advantage of cheap flights and dropping off their pets at this one poor hapless bastard's house. He takes in a dog, (Great Dane) a cat, ferrets, fish, etc. while his neighbors rush off to Hawaii. SW does their pitch then right before the commercial ends they pan to the guy lounging on his couch surrounded by animals. The Great Dane shares the couch with him. The cat is sitting on the back of the couch. You know where I'm going because you have seen your cat do this to your dog 100's of times. The dog cranes his neck to lick the cat and the cat reaches out and swats the dog across the grill, Ali-style, two left hooks at the speed of light then the commercial ends.

You can't train a cat to do that on cue. That must have just happened and they left it in. Cracks me up every time I see it.
posted by vito90 at 8:43 PM on April 17, 2003

This video is fake, and it is tasteless (to put it mildly).

But the biggest crime in posting it is: everybody saw it two f---ing weeks ago.

Thanks for perpetuating something that was probably not but maybe half-funny in a guilty kind of way the first time.

Upload a video of your balls in a coffee grinder so we'll have something legit to laugh about.

Thank you.
posted by scarabic at 8:59 PM on April 17, 2003

Upload a video of your balls in a coffee grinder so we'll have something legit to laugh about.

And obviously wait for a Friday to post it. Comedy gold.
posted by anathema at 9:11 PM on April 17, 2003

For the record, I hadn't seen it. Laughed my ass off.

As to the authenticity of the video: despite the fact that a fan could be constructed to withstand the weight of a cat, and also generate enough torque to swing it, one fact seems incontrovertible: once the cat is released from the fan, it appears to fly out perpendicularly to the arc carved out by the blades of the fan - instead of tangentially. In other words, if the cat really had let gone at the time and place it did, the cat's trajectory would have probably placed it in the vicinity of the cameraman.
posted by SilentSalamander at 9:36 PM on April 17, 2003

Madamjujuve, you frighten me. What on earth would possess you to seek out websites with "strange foreign objects in dog feces"?!

As for the curmudgeonly comments on the video, it's become apparent that some people take their pussies just a little too seriously.

The day you can't laugh at a cat flying off a fan blade and smashing into a wall, is the day you might as well quit living.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:53 PM on April 17, 2003

The version I saw originally goes on a little longer. It turns out that the voice you hear in the background is a guy recording the spectacle of the cat on his new Nokia videophone. The clip zooms out and you see the final seconds of the cat hitting the wall on his phone. "Send funny movies to your friends" seems to be the message. I think the fact that it's a shill makes it a little less funny to me. And I think it's annoying that someone can lop off the end, recirculate it, and spawn a bunch of conversations over whether it's real. It's not real.
posted by scarabic at 11:25 PM on April 17, 2003

No. It's real. 100%. That's a live cat. No doubt about it.
posted by y6y6y6 at 7:05 AM on April 18, 2003

It's a staged scene with live cat on a prop fan in a viral ad for a cell phone. It's funny, but can we go home now?
posted by FormlessOne at 8:28 AM on April 18, 2003

Nokia's response.
posted by modofo at 5:18 PM on April 18, 2003