Animal Crackers

ADVERTISING Animal Crackers In the film Doctor Dolittle, Rex Harrison warbled about how nice it would be to talk to the animals, chat with the cheetahs or have a hippopotamus to tea. The doctor would probably be overjoyed leafing through the U.S. press lately. Peering out of countless ads are all kinds of animal pitchmen.

A Chase Manhattan Bank promotion features an avuncular, sneaker-shod hippo working a computer. An ad for Irving Trust's computer service shows a wood penguin holding a high silk hat. The message: "Lease or Buy—Which suits you best?" Then there is the crane standing on one foot in an ad for Boeing Computer Service, which asks: "Looking for stability in computer services?" In an ad for CNA Insurance, a purple piglike monster with yellow wings and an orange cockscomb gobbles up dollars. The headline: "The Money Muncher. Starve it." Computer Communication's ads feature another cash-chewing nightmare: "The money-munching number cruncher." Other zoological promotions include Lee clothing (a lion), Sony (a duck), Bemis Co. (an alligator) and Honeywell (a bear).

No one is certain why so many admen are suddenly crackers over animals. But the appearance of a single animal ad could have been enough to start the trend. As in few other businesses, an adman is always willing to offer his competitors the sincerest form of flattery.