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The Rodents of Madison Avenue

© Dorothy Hoffman

The day when men test their macho nerve by running with the squirrels through the streets of Pamplona, Spain, may still be a long way off, in the real world. But Super Bowl viewers were treated to the thrilling spectacle in this year's best Super Bowl commercial (if you missed it, you can find the ad at EDS's website).

Rabbits are known for their rapid multiplication skills. But even the most amorous of lagomorphs would have a hard time equaling the performance of the two petstore bunnies on the Visa Card ad who fall in love to the strains of "Love Is in the Air." While Dad's still waiting to get his credit card or check approved, baby bunnies have filled the store and overflowed onto the lawn.

And pets of all persuasions can sometimes get along surprisingly well, but not many blended pet families could pull off the classic "sting" concocted by a mouse, a cat, and a dog who trick their owner out of his dinner in an artful stain-resistant carpet ad. It would have been a perfect crime if the mouse didn't give the game away at the end with a satisfied burp.

Rodents and rabbits, it seems, make persuasive salescritters. Of course, that smart-alecky Energizer bunny has been selling, and selling, and selling those long-lasting batteries of his for years. And thankfully, we can always count on those clever and endearing Cadbury bunnies showing up around Easter time to market their wares. Many other species have auditioned for the part, but as we all know, nobunny knows Easter eggs like the Easter bunny. In the last few years the Easter bunny staff has even expanded to include a carmel egg bunny and (my personal favorite) a sexy chocolate egg spokesbunny, whose deep "Barry White" voice sounds suspiciously like the voice of a salad dressing-loving rabbit puppet in another ad. Maybe he's moonlighting.

The Planters Nut people had a great idea when they employed an artistic gopher to promote their mixed nuts, and though they went on to hire a Boston terrier, woodpecker, penguins and a giraffe, I still consider the gopher's performance the most convincing. Squirrels always manage to outfox the human actors in those entertaining Honey Nut cereal commercials, doing whatever it takes to reach their nutty goal. In a recent PECO Energy commercial, though, the squirrel actors play dumb as their frustrated instructor desperately repeats the lesson to his distracted students: "nuts gooood, electric utility boxes baaaaad! Pay attention!!"