It often seems (to this jaded tv viewer anyway) that whenever an advertiser comes out with a really great spot or campaign, it only runs for a short time and then disappears forever. (Take, for instance, the Meow Mix surveillance spot). It seems like only the bad commercials keep running for a long time (I won’t name any names.)

But these crisp fall days, the Weather Network is running a spot that’s several years old – and has only grown more endearing with time. It’s a psa called ‘Insulator’ and it’s part of a seven-spot pool for Natural Resources Canada featuring that lovable feline star of Cordell Barker’s nfb gem The Cat Came Back.

NRCan’s job is to develop and promote efficiency and alternative energy programs. In each of the spots in this pool, the cat battles energy inefficiency and waste and champions responsible consumption.

What sounds like a pedestrian (okay, downright boring) topic at best is brought to wonderful life in inimitable Barker style. In ‘Insulator,’ the lovable puss and his equally cute owner make such mundane tasks as weatherstripping the windows and insulating the hot water tank into a toon treat for viewers of all ages. (I wish my cat had that kind of entertainment value – let alone environmental responsibility. His idea of energy conservation is sleeping 23 hours a day.)

But surely the funniest moment comes when the homeowner answers a knock on the door and finds his feline friend on the doorstep blue with cold and stiff with frost, whiskers looking like icicles about to snap off. The man rushes the wee beastie to a warm spot on top of the radiator where he melts back to his usual happy yellow self, comfortable in the now efficiently winter-proofed house.

This Natural Resources pool has been charming audiences for several years now. ‘Electric Eclectic’ (how to use electric lights and appliances efficiently) won, among other kudos, a nod from the New York Festivals (International Non-Broadcast) in 1991 and ‘Car Pool’ (the environmental benefits of car pooling and taking public transport) picked up a Golden Sheaf Award at Yorkton the same year. ‘Insulator’ itself was a multiple award-winner including a Golden Sheaf in 1993.

It’s great to see the government using its creative as efficiently as we’re supposed to use our energy. It makes me feel they’re making the most of the money we give them for once. PC

Roll credits:

Natural Resources Canada ‘Insulator’

Production house: Pascal Blais, Montreal

Animator: Cordell Barker