Cold work, and a cat ad that goes way, way too far

This is about an ad campaign that has me scratching my head. But first let's give credit where credit is more than due.

In the wake of last week's snow/sleet/ice storm, getting from here to there was a challenge. In some parts of Southeast Missouri, power outages added to the misery and inconvenience.

Despite the cold, street crews, highway snowplow drivers, utility workers, emergency crews, mail carriers, newspaper delivery folks and many others whose jobs require getting out whatever the weather were up to the task.

I was particularly impressed that most major streets in Cape Girardeau were cleared within hours after the snow stopped falling. Hats off to everyone who endured the freezing weather to do their jobs.

Now, about that ad campaign.

Many of you, I'm sure, have seen videos and photos featuring a cat named Grumpy Cat. The name is obvious, because the cat's sourpuss face is a sight to behold.

Even though Grumpy Cat looks angry enough to scratch your eyes out, the animal's owners say it has a wonderful disposition. I will take them at their word.

Because of Grumpy Cat's unusual look, it has become a celebrity. Like other stars, the cat has won some endorsement deals, including being the front cat for the Friskies line of cat food.

I know Friskies is a good brand, and a popular one, too. Which makes it all the more difficult to understand the full-page ad included in one of the coupon booklets in Sunday's paper.

My wife and I are coupon clippers. We have been for nearly 50 years. Over the years, clipping coupons from newspaper inserts has saved us way more than the cost of a newspaper subscription. Throwing away these special coupon inserts is like throwing away dollar bills. Who would do that?

So, I was going through the inserts last Sunday and soon ran across the Friskies ad. There was Grumpy Cat's unhappy face. Across the top of the photo were these words:

"I have 2 holiday wishes."

At the bottom of the photo were these words:

"Wet food."

"And your demise."

At first I thought I was misreading the words. I understood the first "wish." Cats love Friskies wet food. I know, based on years and years of feeding cats. It was easy to agree that a cat's holiday wishes would include wet food.

But my demise?

What was I missing?

"Demise," according to every dictionary source I consulted, means exactly what I though it meant: Death. Termination of existence.

Whoa, buckaroos! Is this supposed to be funny? Is this something some ad copywriter thought would tickle us before we headed off to church? Sour-faced cat wants wet food and dead humans?

After I got over the initial shock I wondered about the logic of the ad's wording. Cat craves wet food. Cat gets wet food from human. Cat wants human dead.

Let's suppose all this transpired. Cat gets wet food. Human dies. Where does cat's next can of wet food come from?

I tried to find some explanation of this ad. I thought there might be some negative reaction, but I couldn't find any. Am I the only one who thinks this ad smells worse than an unrefrigerated opened can of cat food?

For now I am taking the position that Grumpy Cat carries no blame for the ad. After all, cats don't write advertising copy. I think Grumpy Cat would be appalled by the thoughts expressed in the ad.

Good kitty.

Bad cat food company marketing department.

Joe Sullivan is the retired editor of the Southeast Missourian.