Humane society ad with Hill nearly viral

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This article was published 10/02/2011 (5365 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Andy Hill’s kitty commercial for the Winnipeg Humane Society has been viewed more than 310,000 times in the last two weeks on YouTube, drawing fans across the world, including a culture writer in Miami.

Elyse Wanshel knew nothing about Andy Hill or of his father Nick Hill’s local iconic stature as a television furniture huckster when she first saw the video.

“Funny is just funny in my book,” she said. “Even if it is an inside joke, it’s still funny to people who aren’t in on the joke.”

Nick Hill became famous for his rapid-fire “come on down,” commercials for Kern-Hill Furniture Co-Op. Son Andy became the family store’s pitchman after Nick died in 2003. The Winnipeg Humane Society kitty video riffs on those well-known commercials, with Andy doing the rapid-fire while sitting in a rocking chair, substituting kittens for living room suites as several kittens climb all over him.

Wanshel, a humour and culture writer for the alternative weekly paper Miami New Times, said the video contains several elements that appeal to anyone with a sense of humour — cats, banjos and squeaky, loud Canadians. She said its success is based on its appeal to the basic comic instincts inside all of us.

“Comparing two things that don’t seem that they should be compared to each other is just funny. Comparing cats to a massive surplus nobody wants, is funny.”

Jose Duran, the Miami New Times web editor, said videos have to reach one million views before they can claim viral status, but he predicts Hill’s pitch will reach that level within the next two weeks.

Wanshel said several Internet sites had posted the video before she came across it and she thought it was so good she posted it on her blog. She added her own twist by creating a drinking game based on the video.

Andy Hill said he did the commercial simply because the Winnipeg Humane Society asked him to.

“They said, ‘You’re game to do practically anything,’ and I said, ‘Oh yea.’ “

Aileen White, the humane society’s communications director said the creative team was considering hiring an actor before they realized they had the real thing in Andy Hill.

“Is there any Winnipeg icon who could actually do it and make this happen? Andy was the only one who was asked and he immediately came on board.”

White laughs about it now, but she was worried her bosses wouldn’t be able to visualize the humour and she kept the project to herself.

“We knew we were dealing with a bit of a risqué subject,” White said. “I kept the scripts and everything under wraps until we were finished.”

White said Hill was free to improvise during the shooting, but she credits Shelley Jesseau, a former writer and producer with CTV Winnipeg, for coming up with the concept and the script.

“It was fun to have no creative limits,” said Jesseau, who is the advertising and promotions co-ordinator at the Canadian Wheat Board. “I sent the script back to Aileen and warned her it was going to be a bit different.”

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca