Purina's “The Friskies” Presents Custom Trophies Designed by Bennett Awards

For the second consecutive year, Purina’s Friskies® Cat Food used custom trophies designed by Bennett Awards to recognize winners in their annual Internet cat video contest called “The Friskies”. The Friskies are awarded to the best Internet cat videos of the year. These recognition awards celebrate the pop culture phenomena of cat videos and the cats that inspire them.

During the first half of 2013, contestants submitted 2 minute cat videos as entries to this competition in one of four categories: 1) Cat Comedy – you cat(s) in a humorous situation; 2) Catventure – an indoor cat adventure; 3) Rescue Cat – your cat(s) adopted from a rescue group of shelter enjoying life; and 4) Pursuit of Food/Treat: you cat(s) pursuing or engaging with their cat food or treats. 

A panel of judges, including last year’s grand prize winner, the executive director of Adopt-a-Pet.com, and the creator of creator of the popular Henri, le Chat Noir videos, selected 20 semi-finalists (5 in each award category) based on the following equally-weighted criteria: a) originality and overall artistic impression; b) audience appeal and entertainment quality; c) sense that there’s a story being told; and d) portraying cat’s perspective. 

The 20 semi-finalists were selected on August 6, 2013, and each received a one-year supply of Friskies cat food and Friskies® Party Mix brand cat treats. The contest then moved to the public voting phase, and each of the semi-finalist videos was placed on the Internet so they public could vote for their favorite. Based on the popular public vote, the top three from each category were named Finalists, and received a trip to New York City to take part in “The Friskies” Award Show. During the award show, which was broadcast online, the panel of judges selected one winner from each of the four categories. In addition, a Fan Favorite winner was selected based on the public’s text votes. Each winner received a $5,000 cash prize and a custom trophy designed by Bennett Awards called “The Friskies Catuette”. In addition, the Internet’s famous “Grumpy Cat” won a Lifetime Achievement Award. 

The “Friskies Catuettes” were designed by Bennett Awards in 2012, the first year of this competition. These unique trophies are based on a custom cat sculpture based on the Friskies cat icon. The sculpture is attached to an integrated circular pedestal that incorporates a raised relief of the Friskies logotype. The sculptures are produced in pewter, and have a gold-plated finish. They are mounted on two-tier based with personalized engraving of the award and category names. 

“The Friskies” award show was held October 15, 2013, at Arena, and event just outside Times Square. The event was hosted by comedian Michael Ian Black, and featured a live broadcast on the Internet. More information on the competition can be found at the following site: www.thefriskies.com.