Save 35% on an annual Digiday+ membership. Ends June 5.
Oh, man, this one’s for the birds — um, or the cats?

Friskies cat food brand has just released its new mobile and Facebook app “Catify Yourself,” which lets you put your face or faces of your friends and family on different cat bodies along with “quirky captions.” You know, just in case you’ve ever wondered what you or your friends and family would look like as creepy cats with human faces. I mean come on! What? Who has ever wondered that? The app promo images look like something from one of SNL’s fake commercials.
Ever since Office Max’s “ElfYourself,” the “x” yourself format has been a go-to for app makers. There are tons of these kinds apps out there, like Fatify, Oldify, and Baldify; even ElfYourself won’t die. Sorry, Friskies, but this catifying business might be one of the worst attempts at the ElfYourself-ripoff genre of apps.
It’s always hard to predict the whims of the cat people, but this is pushing it. Who wouldn’t be creeped out by seeing their face plopped unnaturally on cats’ bodies. Cat people, feel free to correct me if I am wrong here, but you guys like cats because they are cats — not creatures with cat bodies and fleshy human visages. Right?
More in Marketing
Coca-Cola’s AI-powered José Mourinho campaign could signal a shift in celebrity partnerships
Instead of featuring José Mourinho, the incoming manager of the Real Madrid soccer team, the series will be hosted by Mourinho’s AI clone.
Nest New York brings its fragrance-layering strategy to the U.K.
The fragrance brand is expanding its U.K. presence through e-tailer Cult Beauty, department stores Harrods and Selfridges, and specialty retailer John Bell & Croyden.
Future of Marketing Briefing: How agencies are betting on entertainment to survive
Some agencies are done making ads. Now they want to make hits.