Thinking of buying a new car?
Free cat comes with new car purchase Oct. 9 from Jim Click /Photo illustration Ryn Gargulinski
Don’t delay – the best deal to wheel its way to Tucson is going down Saturday, Oct. 9, with the pairing of Jim Click and the Hermitage Cat Shelter.
Buy a car, get a free cat.
That’s right, head on down to Jim Click KIA at Auto Mall and you can drive away with a fine car and a fine feline.
The Hermitage will be on hand with cats and Jim Click will pay the cat’s adoption fee for anyone buying a car that day.
Never mind zero percent financing or other savvy savings that often come with new vehicles, Jim Click KIA is offering a bargain that’s the cat meow, the cat’s pajamas – and much better than anything the cat drags in.
This has to be one of the most creative bargains we’ve seen yet.
Kudos to both Jim Click and Hermitage Cat Shelter for a deal that definitely stands out from the rest.
We also dig the fact that Jim Click’s Nick Scalpone will donate $250 to the Hermitage with the purchase of a KIA any day of the year.
Creative as it is, however, we’re wondering how effective it will be.
Perhaps die-hard cat lovers will, in fact, find a way to buy a car Oct. 9 just to get the free feline. But we also bet the marketing would be much more effective if it were the other way around – buy a cat, get a free car.
Now don’t take this wrong way. The Hermitage Cat Shelter is one of the finest organizations since the Cat Dancer cat toy. We support them as well as all other groups geared towards helping animals.
We also support new cars, if you can afford them. They at least have the capacity to drive more than 22 mph around Tucson streets, as other cars seem unable to do.
But the pairing of a free cat with a new car seems strange, at best, and hazardous, at worst.
The last time we tried to transport a cat in a vehicle, it panicked and peed all over the interior.
The family van reeked of cat urine every time it rained.
What: Buy a car, get a free cat
When: Sat, Oct. 9, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Jim Click KIA Auto Mall, 775 W. Wetmore Rd.
Why: Because desperate times call for creative measures.
[tnipoll]
What do you think?
Is that the deal of the century or what?
What other strange marketing and deals have you seen?
Will you be buying a Jim Click car on Saturday?
Makes sense to me as Ford Motor Company used to sell “Cougars” as part of the Mercury line. Are there still Jim Click commercials with Jim saying “Hank, that’s exactly right?” If so, are the kitties getting Hank”s blessing?
aww, man – the pairing of free cats with ford cougars would have been the purrrfect match, alan from kent wa.
maybe the trend could extend to free horses with mustangs and free snakes with a cobra?
you might be on to something!
couldn’t tell you about the commercials, as i do not watch TV – but i’d guess the blessings are extended.
Does it come with a kittie carrier? I think their heart’s in the right place, but kind of a marketing stretch.
Since the event is for a good cause, seems a bit mean to be critical. But hey, you asked what we thought!
When it comes to the car marketing wars for animal causes – their competitor’s Dog Days of Summer campaign made the connection. You travel with dogs. Cats – not so much.
Employees picked up the adoption tab and you didn’t have to buy a car, just visit their pet friendly service station. Perhaps they realized that if you have a dog these days, you can afford the oil change – not the new car. When you’re able to afford the new ride, maybe you”ll remember the dealer’s generosity and how they helped bring “Spike” into your life.
Perhaps the cat campaign would have played out better if they used the Halloween angle – October, cats, thematically it plays out. Maybe pick up the tab for adopting a black cat.
No matter what – the deal HAS to include a kitty carrier!
hey rachelc,
thanks for input. yeah, i thought criticizing the deal could be seen as meanie, which is why i added the ‘don’t take this the wrong way’ disclaimer. i honestly do like the hermitage – and don’t mean to be a mean bean to any animal organization.
just couldn’t pass up this strange pairing.
also agree that the pet friendly service station ploy made more sense – economically and otherwise. too bad i missed writing on that one!
oh! and don’t worry about the halloween angle and adoption specials – that will surely be coming soon, as will the warnings to keep pets inside for safety against all the trickster ghoulies and goblins.
Hahahahahah! Screw the car Rynski, how much for the kitty in the pic? 😉
hiya radamx,
kitty in the pic goes for $99.99, payable in three easy installments of $33.33. please make checks payable to sawyer/care of rynski….
I don’t like the tossing in of a “free” cat into the deal. To me, this is a creepy transaction. It is a living creature. I hope that the cats are an optional deal for qualified cat owners, regardless of their ability to buy a Kia, which is probably the cheapest car you can get. Are they going to qualify car buyers to make sure that they can afford the cat, or even want the cat? I don’t like this at all. I have a strange feeling we’ll be reading about this in Sawyer Says in the future when a poor cat dies. Sorry to be pessimistic, but I have a bad feeling about this. Cats should NEVER be “thrown in” to sweeten a deal.
My dog Comet says that while pairing a new car and a free dog would be a doggone good deal, doing the same with a cat is a catastrophe.
Does Sawyer agree?