The New Club DJ for Lyle's Golden Syrup Is One Hip Cat

First, a hamster delivered winning (if whiny) trance grooves for Pringles. Now, a turntable tabby bursts on the scene, spinning sassy disco for U.K. breakfast fave Lyle’s Golden Syrup in a commercial created by London agency Elvis.

This cat can really scratch!

It all starts quietly enough, with a suburban family gathered around their kitchen table. But a single drop of Lyle’s sparks a change of scene. We’re transported to a shimmery club drenched in hues of gold, where a cool cat drops beats while audio speakers prance across the dance floor.

Those woofers are hoofers! (Yummy wordplay. If a tad obscure.)

The initiative marks an effort by 140-year-old Lyle’s to connect with a younger audience.

“A drizzle of Lyle’s Golden Syrup puts your breakfast on the guest list—a sweet VIP treatment for pancakes, porridge or whatever you fancy,” the brand says on IG. “You see? Her tastebuds are doing a full-on dance called delicious!”

That copy’s not so smooth. But we love the cat! And there’s one more ad on the way.

Turns out, the team tried to use actual felines in the commercial. But they wouldn’t cooperate on set. Big Surprise.

“We had three identical cats, allowed them to become familiar with the location and lighting, then their trainer worked o have them playfully move around behind the decks,” Elvis ECD Neale Horrigan recalls. “This was a stark reminder of why people say ‘never work with children or animals,’ as unfortunately, the cats didn’t really cut it. In the end we opted for a CGI cat, which fits nicely in this fun little world.”

Indeed, both Lyle’s and Pringles benefitted from casting faux critters. The little beasts are oh-so-obviously unreal, which amps up the awesome absurdity.

The dancers struggled to move around in their speaker unit costumes, which were more unwieldy than expected. “We adjusted the boxes to keep the weight down. And when filming we had safety people next to the dancers on the podium to stop them from falling off,” he says. (Those spotters were removed in post, natch.)

Elvis has proven adept at crafting offbeat, compelling campaigns that generate cultural conversation media coverage. Examples include Cadbury, Bud Light and Unilad.

Here, we have a cute, kooky cat. Spinning records. Methinks kitty’s claws will gain a hold in the public consciousness and generate some syrupy sweet social shares.

CREDITS

Client: Tate and Lyle Sugars

Creative agency: Elvis
Tanya Whitehouse – CEO
Neale Horrigan- Executive Creative Director
Camilla Yates – Strategy Director
Lottie White – Creative Production Director
Robyn Lyness – Account Director
Louis Mason – Senior Creative Producer
Tom Gudgeon – Head of Design
Nick Swaffield – Senior Creative Retoucher
Matthew Benny – Creative
Brendon Howell – Creative
Julia Methold – TV Producer

Production company: Craft Films
Rob Davies – Director
Phil Myers – Executive Producer