January 2022ratskunk

über-draft—not ready for publication

WARNING—WARNING—WARNING

Unless the reader is a Rolex kook or really likes cats most readers will find the subject of the article torpid if not soporific.

WARNING—WARNING—WARNING

The [Rolex] Oyster and the Cat
a Moral Fable

Caveat lector: the following article is just a gathering of information gleaned from the internet and does not represent a scholarly treatment of the subject rather the article is a lark—readers interested in pursuing a serious treatment are encouraged to contact the History of Advertising Trust (HAT) in England which holds the J. Walter Thompson London office archive (refer to HAT Report: ‘Rolex Watch Co. (Switzerland): international watch advertising: ladies “Cat” campaign: February 1959-January 1960’ / August-September 1959).

The Europa Star publication Eastern Jeweller and Watchmaker (No. 3-1963) features a 4-page Rolex supplement (+ an advertisement) entitled “The Oyster and the Cat—a Moral Fable” concerning the J. Walter Thompson 1959 Rolex “Cat” advertising campaign which appeared in sundry magazines ≈ 1959–1963. Before looking at the “Moral Fable” let us take a quick look at the 1959 Rolex “Cat” advertising campaign and the 1962 Rolex ladies “Cat” watch catalog.

J. Walter Thompson's ^† Rolex “Cat” advertising campaign may be one of the more curiouser & curiouser Rolex advertising campaigns: sans actual watches and presenting a hodge-podge, word-stew masquerading as “wit” the advertisements' stars are Rosalind Hotye's ^¶ cat illustrations…JWT states (in a mid-century manner) the “Cat” campaign's theme as…

It is not unfeminine to know the time…A cat tells women this in witty fashion!

† J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was Rolex's primary advertising agency for many decades begining in 1946…although an American company the JWT London office gets the lion's share of credit for making Rolex a horological advertising juggernaut.

¶ Rosalind Hoyte's signature RH appears on some Rolex “Cat” advertisements but not all.

From the 1985 J. Walter Thompson company publication The Rolex Oyster: 39 years of advertising history…

Also running with "men who guide the destinies [campaign]…” was the Cat Campaign. Our earliest example is dated 1959. This ad…is one of a series of eight and is part of the very first actual campaign addressed to women. Our example is from Queen and Harper's Bazaar…An extraordinary campaign in many ways, it showed no product at all and the copy reads rather like blank verse. j. walter thompson news, vol 4, no. 3 (september 1985)

Playful & Lyssa

Plum & Kelly

Cruella & Cleo

Blanche & Theia

My understanding is the artist Rosalind Hoyte did not christen the Rolex Cats—prior to or soon after the Rolex “Cat” campaign was launched a note signed Matilda was found on the desk of Alexander Mitchell-Innes (JWT London-office) with a name for each cat along with a snippet from T. S. Elliot's poem The Naming of Cats…gossip whispered (though clear venture) Matilda was Ruth Waldo ^‡, JWT vice-president and former chief copywriter (London office).

When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
     The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
     Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
          His ineffable effable
          Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular name.

Readers will note the poem snippet left by Matilda refers not to the name given to the cat by humans but rather a cat's inner-name so-to-speak: “But above and beyond there's still one name left over, And that is the name that you never will guess; The name that no human research can discover—But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.”—to the best of my knowledge Rolex never sanctioned the names given to the Rolex Cats by Matilda.

‡ a quaint anecdote: all the J. Walter Thompson women who worked for Ruth Waldo wore hats all the time to distinguish themselves from the secretaries; they were known as “the hat ladies” (JWT News, October 1975).

To the best of my knowledge there are eight English tag-lines (and associated “poems”) across the Rolex “Cat” advertisements—here are the tag-lines along with the first line of the advertisement's “poem”…

The Rolex “Cat” advertising campaign appeared in addition to English in French, Spanish and German—for example Plum-cat appeared in all four languages. Cruella-cat appeared in a 1961 issue of Belora (Revista Portuguesa de Relojoazia) with the tagline: “A mulher troça da pontualidade mas, um dia…” (The woman changes punctuality but one day…).

Femme, elle
se moquaint bien
de l'heure
—mais un jour…

Poca importancia
tenia para elle
la hora
de dia hasta que…

Die Zeit
war ihr
ein Nichts
bis sum Tag…

Apropos of cats…
cats in watch advertisements

Sundry watch advertisements featuring cats: Timex, Benrus, Van Cleef & Arpels, Zenith and Movado—albeit the advertisements feature a watch unilke the Rolex Cat advertisements—note: the Lanvin cat is not a watch advertisement; I just like the cat…

Rolex 1962 Ladies “Cat” Watch Catalog

Rolex references 9870 & 9998 from the 1962 “Cat” catalog.

J. Walter Thompson states the Rolex “Cat” campaign was a series of eight advertisements and eight cats make an appearance in the advertisements—there are at least two other cats that do not appear in the main Rolex “Cat” campaign: a circa 1962–1963 Rolex ladies watch catalog features Leahi-cat not seen in the standard group of eight cats and there is Daffodil-cat (cat looking in the mirror) appearing in the rarely seen It wasn't fascinating to know the time—until she had a Rolex advertisement. In the ladies catalog we can see glimpses of Playful, Lyssa, Plum and Blanche (Kelly-cat also appeared in the catalog).

The 1962 “Cat” catalog included one of the “Cat” advertisement poems She didn't choose to tell the time—until she had a Rolex…

The 1962 “Cat” catalog displays 50+ Rolex models—examples: reference 9922 with Florentine bracelet, Chameleon references 9884 & 9885 which can be worn as brooches, reference 9407 with diamond-studded buckle and reference 9512 with 24 diamonds—the watches are accompanied by five cats named Sam by Andy Warhol (1954). Also displayed Rolex Chameleon-Orchid with Andy Warhol orange cat named Sam.

Rolex reference 9968 with eighteen diamonds, reference 8858 (lock & key), references 9904 (Queen Midas) & 9903 (Princess Midas) and reference 9894 from the 1962 “Cat” catalog.

Apropos of cats…
the most beautiful Rolex cat of them all & most evil cat of them all

It wasn't chic to know the time—until she had a Rolex
It wasn't fascinating to know the time—until she had a Rolex

Each of the Rolex “Cat” advertisements displayed a different “poem” for the lack of a better word—for the sake of space and sanity let us look at just two of the Rolex “Cat” advertisements: It wasn't chic to know the time—until she had a Rolex (featuring Kelly-cat ^†) and It wasn't fascinating to know the time—until she had a Rolex (featuring Daffodil-cat).

† the reader can note Kelly-cat also appeared as the inverse of herself (the only cat to do so to the best of my knowledge).

It wasn't chic to know the time—until she had a Rolex

It wasn't fascinating to know the time—until she had a Rolex

Thompson-London's Rolex “Cat” advertising campaign wins the “Oscar” of British Advertising

The J. Walter Thompson Company's Rolex “Cat” campaign won the 1960 Layton Award in the Black-and-White (group E) category which included 394 entries. The Awards were presented by H.R.H. The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at the Savoy Hotel on 23^rd March, 1960. The 1960 Layton Awards contained 2,000 entries from 128 advertising agencies.

The Layton Awards were a short-lived affair lasting from 1955–1963 and more-or-less a self-serving event on the part of C&E Layton, England's biggest advertising supply company. The Layton Awards were remarkable in that entires were restricted to print advertisements and advertisements were judged on creativity not effectiveness.

London…J. Walter Thompson Company Ltd., London, has been named winner of the coveted Layton Award, with an outstanding black-and-white campaign for Rolex watches.

The 125-year old Layton Company is the world's largest advertising supply house, and instituted the Layton Awards to promote the graphic arts in advertising. j. walter thompson company news, april 1960

In 1977 J. Walter Thompson London office assembled an exhibition “Six Decades of JWT Advertising”: a review of JWT-London's creativity since the 1920s. The exhibition included advertising campaigns for Guinness, DeBeers, Kit Kat, Kodak and Rolex— the 1950s were represented by the Rolex “Cat” campaign.

In the fifties, this haughty message had great appeal to the target segment of the British female market. These were upper-income women who formerly had associated the Rolex name with only masculine styling. The use of the cat, so frequently a symbol for the feminine sex, bejeweled with glamorous Rolex watches, helped change that image. six decades of jwt advertising, london exhibition (jwt news february, 1977)

J. Walter Thompson (JWT) notes: “…bejeweled with glamorous Rolex watches…” but no watches appeared in the advertisements rather the cats were bejeweled with jewels.

The Cruella-cat advertisement makes an appearance in the June 1998 issue of Europa Star in the Basel Happenings section—note the quote below makes reference to the year 1969, either a typo or a misremembrance as the Rolex “Cat” Campaign was launched in 1959 and ran until ≈ 1963.

Apropos of cats…
“25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy”

Rosalind Hoyte the British illustrater of the Rolex “Cats” was a magazine illustrator (John Pudney's “100 Brighton Cantata”: Argosy magazine), book-jacket designer (Peter Gammond's “Know about jazz”) and illustrator of children's books (Peter Emmens' “Simon to the Rescue”)—pre-sainthood Andy Warhol (a children's book illustrator himself) in 1954 in collaboration with his mother Julia Warhola released the book “25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy” ^†. I always wondered if Rosalind Hoyte was inspired by Andy Warhol's cats with respect to her own group of Rolex “Cats”; Andy Warhol's cats would have been around for 3–4 years before the Rolex “Cat” advertising campaign thus even if the nexus is fanciful Rosalind Hoyte may have drawn inspiration from Andy Warhol's cats.

† despite the title there are 16 cats named Sam illustrated in the book not 25…Andy Warhol's mother did the book's title and left off the “d” of “Named” and Andy Warhol left the title sans the “d”.

Maybe Rosalind Hoyte was inspired by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen's (Swiss 1859–1923) fin de siècle cats…regardless Ms. Hoyte's Rolex cats are surely among the most famous horological felines in history.

The [Rolex] Oyster and the Cat—a Moral Fable

The Eastern Jeweller and Watchmaker (No. 3-1963) Rolex “Cat” supplement: “The Oyster and the Cat—a Moral Fable” is a closed book regarding its raison d'être: 1963 was the tailend of the Rolex “Cat” campaign which began in 1959 and to the best of my knowledge the “Fable” appeared in no other publication^† thus whatever the reason for the “Fable” the reason eludes me. The cats appearing in the supplement are: Daffodil, Cleo, Kelly, Lyssa, Cruella and Plum.

† a Spanish version of the supplement appeared in a 1963 issue of Estella del Sur with the title “La ostra y la gata: Fábula Moral” and a French version appeared in a 1963 issue of Europa Star Hng Kong with the title “La Chatte et l'huître: Fable Morale”.

Publicity Record…Object: advertising campaign…Firm: Rolex S.A. Geneve

Agency: J. Walter Thompson Co. Ltd, London

Theme: It is not unfeminine to know the time—A cat tells women this in witty fashion!

Qualities: Originality • Wit • A sophisticated but likeable aspect • The subtle argumentation, mannered but not not irratating (and it was almost a challenge) • The balanced composition of the advertisements • The fine drawings • The atmosphere of quality and prestige in this campaign

Faults: A risk of monotony with such a specialized theme • The difficulty of renewal, Will it be possible to find a successor with an equal air and presence?

The Mouse and the Oyster

It's impossible for me to fathom what sparked JWT to create the The Oyster and the Cat—A Moral Fable—the only spark I could think of is the Aesop fable The Mouse and the Oyster though the connection between the Aesop fable and the JWT fable is a mystery to me aside from the likeness of name. In the Aesop fable a house-mouse comes across an oyster on the beach and tries to eat the oyster only to have the oyster shell snap closed trapping the mouse…generally Aesop's fable is a warning against greed and gluttony as related by Samuel Bowden's 1736 poem: Occasion'd by a Mouse caught in an Oyster-Shell…

Whether the creater of the JWT fable ever heard of the Aesop fable is clearly unknown to me…but the Aesop fable is apropos modern-day Rolex fans as contemporary Rolex owners are more-or-less a gluttonous lot only too eager and egged by vainglory to heed the siren call of the Oyster to find themselves imprisoned by vapid dreams and their own vanity.