Inexplicably, Prozzäk has reminded me of this advert. (It's the gym and the kitties and the techno and the old internet humor nostalgia...) It gets a bit more interesting though.
I was wondering if banana milkshakes were a Canadian thing, turns out they are popular in the UK (commonly in the form of banana milk). Instantly I realized this Crusha commercial shed a bit more light on that aspect. Crusha is a UK brand, and they call these milk-mix syrups milkshakes for some reason.
Simon's milkshakes in Sucks to Be You and the solo cup graphic were interesting to me cause you'd really think they'd make a point to make them a bit more cartoonishly milkshake, y'know?
Going into a bar, the solo cup, and being found unconscious face down in one all made me come to the conclusion that banana milkshake could be a cheeky euphemism for alcohol. But no, Simon's peculiar yellow drink of choice is milk with banana flavored syrup in it. Damn brit.
One thing I look forward to about playing Pokemon Violet is learning more of that sexy Grusha lore!
I’ve seen ppl on here talk about him, one person mentioned that they had read about the Gym Leader in the library of the game if I’m not mistaken?
(ik one of my besties had said that there’s a library in the ingame school w books about the Gym Leader)
I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT GRUSHA FJDBLFVNDLKVNFDL
If any of you guys have pics of what the Library book says ingame or something... or literally any canon lore, I’m all ears! (idm spoilers honestly... The brainrot is so real and I need a better understanding about my fave fictional jock)
ALSO HIS BACKSTORY?! SO SAD THAT THE BEAN HAD TO GIVE UP HIS DREAMS! ;w; ...I’m no expert on snowboarding, but ik that it takes a very fit and athletic person. Is his injury so bad that he couldn’t go back to being pro? ...You sure there isn’t a way that maybe, if he was determined enough, he could overcome impossible odds and snowboard again?
Anyways I love Grusha.... he has a very special place in my heart~ (Lowkey he’s actually got me obsessed and brain rotting over my icy oc girl Cryo and her lil bestie Tom jkbvksbksbdssdjk) I definitely ship Grusha and Cryo.... maybe there’s an AU where they fall in love and smooch?! I already have a cute name for the ship: “Crusha” (I love how it has the word “crush” in it lol) ...as far as a proper Pokemon sounding ship name? idk lol... Ice Shipping? IcyLover Shipping? IceLover Shipping? StoicIce Shipping? kdvbdakjbvdskvdbjkss ....Also what dynamic would an icy jock w dashed dreams and an icy bookworm who hates everyone have?
I even have a self indulgent character arc idea in mind for Cryo that she’ll go through, where she “almost” ends up with romantic feelings for Grusha. (but narrowly dodges it bc girl hates le romance lol) ...may even write fanfiction for it! :D
tldr:
I am obsessed w Grusha and would happily accept any canon lore on him, even if it’s spoilers bc the brainrot has hit me hard. Grusha reminds me of my oc Cryo, and I ship the two romantically even tho Cryo hates romance... May make fanfiction w my oc Cryo avoiding a crush on Grusha.
PS: I love how Grusha’s name has Slavic roots.... I have Slavic in my blood as well, so that makes me very happy to see a pretty boy with a pretty Slavic name ;w;
How Crusha Crushed It with The Crusha Kittens Advert
In this series, Squideo has examined the best ways to turn advertising content into gold. Now that we’ve broken down the eight key ingredients, it’s time to dive deep into some examples of stellar advertising. This week, the advert in question was picked by Squideo’s Production Manager Callum Major.
When asked why this particular advert had become his favourite of all time, Callum said: “I remember the advert from when I was younger, when I’d see it on TV all the time. It’s so whacky and bizarre! It's so bad it's good!”
The Artistocrusha
Crusha is a brand of milkshake mix, which recently started selling desserts as part of its range. It may be a surprise that Crusha dates back to 1955, when it was managed by British Sugar. The branding that you may associate with Crusha didn’t come about, however, until late 2001 when it came under the control of a British Sugar subsidiary: Silver Spoon. British Sugar, which has been owned by Associated British Foods since 1991, effectively owns all the sugar produced in the United Kingdom.
Over the next two years, Silver Spoon worked to redevelop the Crusha brand in order to appeal to a new audience. This included a new logo and the adoption of cats as the brand mascot, despite most adult cats being lactose intolerant.
Crusha in Boots
In 2003, the first advert for the revitalised Crusha was released. The mastermind behind this eye-catching advert was Joel Veitch of RealGood, a web animator and singer-song writer, who has been responsible for several high-profile pieces of work including the 2012 animated television special Uncle Wormsley’s Christmas.
The advert is a story of mixed success. Later in 2003, the same year the advert was released, Crusha became involved in a scandal when it’s owners discovered that a batch of faulty Crusha milkshakes had gone out to retailers. Instead of notifying the retailer, Tesco, British Sugar decided to send workers into the store and buy as many of the 580 affected bottles as they could. Tesco realised what was happening and removed the stock, creating a negative press story that undid some of the advert’s impact.
To add insult to injury, the advert was eventually banned from British television by Ofcom in 2004 after several people attempted to recreate the advert with real cats. One man was ultimately arrested for the mistreatment of animals. That didn’t stop Crusha putting out an additional advert by Veitch in 2008, this time with the cats in a gym. Eventually the brand moved away from the visual style of Veitch’s work, but the cat has remained a feature in all their adverts; fully animated since 2014.
Veitch’s animations were so popular in the 2000s, that after Coca Cola recreated aspects of his work – for a 2007 advert that ran in Argentina – he launched a lawsuit against the company. They eventually reached a settlement. Coca Cola had used his band’s song Ninja in a video full of kittens. Not exactly a subtle rip-off.
The Crusha King
Compared to the technical complexities that went into creating Cadbury’s Gorilla advert, which we explored earlier in this series, the process for making the Crusha Kittens advert was relatively straightforward. After all, no one had to travel across the world to find the right gorilla costume. Crusha Kittens wasn’t a major production, so why does it have such a lasting legacy? The advert regularly makes the lists of iconic British adverts and the song lives in the memories of many early noughties children.
Mental Music
The last two adverts broken down in the Advert Alchemy series, Gorilla and The Little Duckling, used existing music in their videos. Crusha Kittens, however, features an original song. It’s a short song, only four lines total, yet it has the overwhelming power of an earworm – guaranteed to make you sing “I want some Crusha” for days on end.
Since the video opens with several cats holding instruments, including an accordion, music was essential to the plot. Since the advert is aimed at children – who will convince their parents to buy the product – the song also had to be simple enough for them to memorise and Veitch definitely delivered when he composed this doozy.
Cute Cat
Even if you’re too young to remember the early days of the internet, scrolling through any social media platform in this day and age will prove this to be true: kittens are always cute. The Crusha Kittens advert predates the cat memes that society has grown to love in the 2020s, but even in 2003 it was well known that children like animals, and cats are a type of animal.
While none of the animals in the video are emphasised for cuteness (in fact some people state the cows gave them nightmares), by adding anthropomorphic features like holding instruments and wearing hats, and singing in an unexpectedly deep voice, the creators of this advert definitely understood the audience they were targeting: kids.
Ancient Animation
In a world of apps that deliver top-quality and relatively inexpensive video production tools, the Crusha Kittens advert may seem terribly outdated. Like something that was mocked up on Photoshop and Microsoft Paint. But to audiences in 2003, that was the beauty of the advert.
Crusha Kittens ran during the 4pm to 6pm timeslot, most popular with advertisers targeting a child audience. In 2003, Crusha Kittens was typically airing between Capri Sun and Nickelodeon adverts. Their competitors were producing live-action or 2D animated videos. Crusha Kittens stood out because it didn’t use this format, and it made something that could be recreated by people at home.
Content Worth Gold
What do you think? What made Crusha Kittens so successful? Watch the full advert below and let us know in the comments.
Get in touch with the Squideo team today to find out how we can improve your advertising strategy with video production, motion graphics, social media management and much more!
Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong Racing figures! I got these well before Amiibo were a thing and can't part with them. Shout outs to Funky Kong joining the Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze cast on the Switch! I especially love King K. Rool, Banjo and WhizPig! Whose your favorite here? #donkeykong #whizpig #kingkrool #klubba #diddykong #crankykong #funkykong #banjoandkazooie #crusha #nintendo #nintendocollecting #Smilingwhilegaming #nintendofigures
Does anyone remember all those bizarre UK product ads? “You’ve been Tango’d” “Irn Bru, made from girders”, “I want some crusha” and the like? I kind of miss them. I feel like we used to have way better ads. Like Hastings Direct, Specsavers, even Go compare.
I swear... I really do wanna ship my oc Cryo and Grusha soooo bad. But with the type of characters that they are by themselves, I don’t really see a ship like this making canon sense...
I’ve just read a good headcanon about Grusha in how he is with romantic relationships... But putting fanon aside, Grusha is a pretty reserved guy, so I’m not so sure he’s the super romantic type himself.
Try pairing that off with another reserved person, who’s pretty much hateful to everyone except for those whom she deems worthy of her time. Not to mention she has a HUGE aversion to romance. (even if she was to have romantic feelings, she’d definitely be the type to fight it tooth and nail)
and you have the concoction for... a crackship. Because the ship really doesn’t make any canon sense. Also factor in the fact that Grusha freaking loves snowboarding (you don’t go pro sports without being passionate about what you’re doing) and Cryo... who’s not really into sports, but is more of a bookworm.
The things these two idiots would have in common would be: Very similar eye and hair colors. Both love and appreciate ice types. Both are also pretty stoic and reserved. (unlike Grusha, Cryo’s more intense emotions are easier to rile up... at least I think so?)
...in any case, I do want to try to get a good understanding about Grusha and the type of character that he is, so maybe I can work a fanon miracle where the two COULD fall in love...mayhaps for an AU or something lol.
I do plan for my main Pokemon fanon where Cryo does end up running far away from Glaseado,and all things snowy and icy to avoid getting a crush on Grusha. (may make it into a fanfic lol, who knows?) ...it’ll give her a chance for character development at least.
Also canonically (at least where my fanon is concerned), I can imagine Cryo and Grusha maybe hitting it off as friends or friendly acquaintances... Perhaps the two stay in touch after Cryo gives her Gholdengo to Grusha. (I imagine her Pokemon might get a love of snowboarding and wants to go pro? or something who knows... so Cryo’s like “Hey, I know just the perfect guy to help Gholdengo”)
so yeah... just silly thoughts lol
