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Chicago Native Morris the Cat is Back in Town, Ready for His Close-Up

 Once considered the most famous cat on television, local hero Morris returns home to Chicago.
Morris the Cat
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RIVER NORTH — A new exhibit at River North's Museum of Broadcast Communications features 10 icons of advertising, from Ronald McDonald to Tony the Tiger to the Keebler Elves.

But none draws a crowd like this finnicky feline — or "charmingly choosy" kitty, as 9 Lives Cat Food brand manager Jenny Wei puts it.

Chicago native Morris the Cat is back in town to help kick off the exhibit, which opens to the public on Saturday. At a kick-off event on Friday, with a bevvy of oversized mascots parading around the Museum, no one could seem to keep their paws off Morris — the smallest of them all, but also the only real, carbon-based life-form among the icons.

The original Morris the Cat ad campaign was launched by Chicago's Leo Burnett ad agency in 1968. The original Red Tabby cat was discovered at a Hinsdale rescue shelter.

It didn't take long for his popularity to explode. He starred in 50 commercials, wrote a book and did a movie with Burt Reynolds. And if you think there's an ecletic cast of characters running for president these days, you might recall that Morris himself ran for president — twice.

As Morris' popularity waned, "taking a few cat naps", as Jenny Wei puts it, he scaled back, settling into his original role as the cover model for 9 Lives packaging. But last year, 9 Lives realized something: people go crazy for viral cat videos.

"With the rise of popularity of cats online these days, with celebrity cats and people wanting to watch cat videos all the time, we felt it was the right time to bring Morris back and re-boot him as the original celebrity cat."

A "new" Morris is inaugurated every decade or so, but they are always red tabby cats, and always rescue cats.

The latest Morris, around since 2003, has Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts, and in his videos, he's outfitted with Google-glass type equipment and a Fitbit-type device to track his movements.

He even showed up at this year's South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.

And next up for Morris? 9 Lives is launching a new campaign on how cats can live better, and how people can better interact with cats.

The basic concept of the Morris campaign remains: "He's the true American success story", Wei said. "He has a unique personality that appeals to people of all ages."

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