Kids' Group Claws 'Cat''s Commercialism

By Stephen M. Silverman

Thursday November 20, 2003 11:25 AM EST

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"Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat," starring Mike Myers, will be all over the nation's movie screens Friday, but the mysterious feline is already all over supermarkets, hardware stores, banks and even the post office, The Washington Post reports.

Want to get your paws on the "Cat"? Kellogg's is selling a limited-edition cereal with red-and-white stripes on each flake, just like the Cat's hat. Kraft Foods, meanwhile, is stuffing its Oreos with red-and-white striped creme.

And there's more: "Cat" has tie-ins with Hershey, Rayovac and MasterCard, not to mention the hand-stamped cancellations currently being executed by the U.S. Postal Service, reports The Post. In all, 12 companies and 40 brand promotions have been set up for "Cat" -- making it one of the biggest business-backed movies in screen history.

While no final figures are being reported, The Post does say that Proctor & Gamble's ad campaign linking "Cat" to its household products is pegged at $25 million.

Not that everybody is impressed. "A few years ago, children's movies didn't have corporate sponsors at all," says Harvard psychologist Susan Linn, a co-founder of the advocacy coalition Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children.

"There's been such an escalation that now going to the movies is simply an opportunity for corporations to manipulate kids. It's going to get to where every minute of children's entertainment will be sponsored by somebody and you can no longer go to a movie that's just a movie," says Linn.

Speaking up for the movie (albeit in a separate Post story), one of the stars of "Cat," 11-year-old Spencer Breslin, says that like all Dr. Seuss stories, "The Cat in the Hat" carries a good message.

The message of "Cat," he says, is: "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how!"

Or, certainly, have commercial know-how.