The rise and rise of the ‘cats doing funny things’ photo craze that’s been spurred by Facebook, Twitter, and countless other social media sites feels like a very modern phenomenon. Memes featuring cats in baths, cats in boxes and even cats poking out of the ceiling feel as though they’ve appeared from nowhere as a source of amusement for countless thousands of us, staving off those inescapable moments of internet boredom.
Red on-screen graphics shouted 'sporty'
Which is why we were somewhat surprised to find that a cat photo appearing in Renault’s
advert
5 GT Turbo
, around 20 years ahead of its time. Go on, have a watch. You might think we’ve gone barmy at first, but trust us, it’s there – just be patient.
See what we mean? So unexpected was it, in fact, that it generated a genuine fit of giggling here in the office (much to the consternation of those around us). And it’s not as if the ad was a duffer otherwise. Just feast your eyes on those cracking simulated LCD graphics at the bottom of the screen. The message was clear: technology, and lots of it, was behind the power of the new hot 5. And the backdrop of the drag strip, combined with pacey shots of gearchanges, left one in no doubt that it was quick. It was, too, and pretty good fun to drive to boot; its reputation in some quarters as a bit of a chav wagon, ably abetted by its appearance in the Ali G movie, is somewhat undeserved, and thankfully fading these days, as it masked a genuinely exciting little car.
0-35-ish in 4.66 seconds. Heard it here first.
None of that really matters, though, because a picture of some cats and a snippet of hold music sold this ad – and the little 5 – to us the instant we saw it. If it was still the 80s, it’d be all you could do to hold us back from skipping on down to the Renault dealer right away.