Gone are the days single cat parents enjoying a drink (or two) at home after a long day at the office need worry about stigmatizing labels associated with those who drink alone.
From here on out, you’re not drinking alone, you’re merely having “happy hour drinks with friends”! So much more socially acceptable don’t you find?
Never-you-mind those drinking buddies are of the feline variety.
Kitty posing with Nyan Nyan Nouveau
We owe this re-branding to the insane insanely brilliant (?) marketers at Japanese pet supplier company B&H Lifes and their quest for a new revenue stream. Wine for cats. Naturally.
Now before you get your panties in a bunch, there’s no alcohol in the “wine.” The ingredients are purported to be catnip, vitamin C and Cabernet grape juice*. The non alcoholic wine, called “Nyan Nyan Nouveau” which translates to “Meow Meow Nouveau,” was apparently named to “evoke Beaujolais Nouveau, which is quite popular in Japan.”
As an aside, It turns out Japan has the second largest consumption of Beaujolais Nouveau in the world, with Germany in first place. Who knew? I was under the impression – apparently falsely – that those of Asian heritage lacked a gene or enzyme of some sort preventing the proper metabolization of wine. At least that’s what my Chinese ex-boss told me when his face turned bright red after drinking red wine. Am I alone in having heard this?
Photo credit: http://mycatsaredemocrats.blogspot.com
According to a quote received by the Huffington Post, the wine was developed, “after many requests from customers who wanted to do things like celebrate Christmas and birthdays with their cats.” No comment on that one. My position is that it’s simply that it makes for a handy beard.
B&H Life admitted, as reported by CNBC, that “only one in 10 cats were willing to taste the wine during tests.” I love that they’re just putting it out there. But it gets better. They go on to say, “It’s just like a grandmother buying an unwanted toy for a grandchild.”
Photo source: http://www.petsami.com
In other words. “Yes, there’s a 90% chance you’ll be wasting your money on our product.” Good thing a 180ml bottle of the stuff will only set you back 399 yen ($4.10).
Would you buy Nyan Nyan Nouveau for your cat? Maybe just out of curiosity to see if he/she would go for it? Is this the most useless cat product you’ve heard of, or can you think of one that beats this one. Unless I’m wrong here in which case please feel free to school me.
Second aside. Crass as it is, I’m wrecked I was beat to the punch in using the title, “Pussy Nouveau Hits Japan” for this post. Crass referring to the title, not my sentiment (to be clear). Hat off to you Diana Goodman. I mean, the woman did go to school for journalism and was the first ever BBC female foreign correspondent, so at least I got beat by a pro. Who knew BBC journalists were so racy! Me-Wow!
*A very astute fellow cat blogger Caren of Cat Chat With Caren and Cody brings up a great question. If grapes are toxic to cats then why – HOW?! – can this product be made out of grape juice. Any one know?
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