Vancouver-based commercial director Nick Racz has been getting a lot of attention lately for a spot called ‘Bad Cats.’ Never before have cat owners seen what really goes on when they leave their unfixed pets alone and their windows open. Client PETA is hopeful this incredibly lewd but funny ad will make cat fanatics sit up and take notice.

The spot is the product of collaboration between Racz and the Vancouver branch of Saatchi & Saatchi. It features cats’well’ doing it in such a way that would make John Holmes blush. Of course, the spot is really about awareness, splicing facts about the multiplication rate of cats versus how many are put to death each year in amongst the bawdy visuals.

Racz, a former agency man, says the spot was actually a way for him to get some attention for himself as a director (at the time, he was unattached to a production company) and a chance for the folks at Saatchi to put out some fresh creative.

‘Instead of sitting back and waiting for clients to come to us and praying that the creative was good, we figured why not approach a couple of advocacy groups, get together, develop some stuff for them and produce it,’ says Racz. ‘We came up with a list of targets and we talked to three of them. They were all keen. The group that ended up coming to us first was PETA.’

Racz recalls sitting down with S&S creative director David Whitehouse and pounding out ideas. Somehow the conversation led to fornicating felines and ‘Bad Cats’ was hatched.

According to Racz, ‘Bad Cats’ took two days to shoot after a helluva lot of prepro. Vancouver’s Circle Productions, a production company Racz had been friendly with, took on the job. It soon became apparent, however, that some corners had to be cut to make the ad a success. One of the biggest roadblocks on the way to spot success was finding two lascivious kitties to get it on for them with an entire crew watching.

Racz says many of the production companies he initially spoke to suggested animal trainers, but this bit of logic was plagued with problems from the beginning.

‘We all know you can’t get real cats to screw for a camera repeatedly, on order,’ says Racz. ‘You can’t even get them to sit down or stand up. We had some real [trained] cats on the set and it is shocking how little they can actually do.’

According to Racz, the budget for the spot was only $80,000, but what was needed was closer to $200,000. Much of the crew worked for little or nothing to help out, but the problem with the camera-shy cats remained. Finally, Racz contacted animatronics gurus Animal Makers in Los Angeles. The principals in the company became really excited about the project and pledged their help.

‘They produced about $80,000 worth of original animatronics for about $20,000 and really just went to town,’ says Racz. ‘The good thing was that I got to go to L.A. and look at the animals and make sure the riggings worked for our shots. We had about six different animatronic rigs. It was amazing. You’d walk into this factory and half the place was these men and women assembling humping cats.’

The spot was an instant success. PETA submitted it to the online ad showcase Ad Critic (www.adcritic.com) and it shot to the number two most-viewed position its first day. At press time, it is sitting pretty at number one, with no clear contender to knock it from its perch. It was launched on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as a comedy piece, but Racz is unsure how many networks will take these ‘Bad Cats’ on.

‘The strategy, as it is with many of PETA’s ads, is to get it banned in some places, get it aired in others,’ says Racz. ‘It is definitely going to end up airing on places like MTV and MuchMusic, where [the rules are] not as stringent, but I’m sure it has already been rejected in a few places.’

Racz, who is repped now by Apple Box Productions (for Vancouver), Filmblanc (eastern Canada and international work) and GearHead (the u.s.), says he would be ‘thrilled’ to work with PETA again based on the early success of ‘Bad Cats.’