Note that when I call the Cadbury Schweppes Leopard "horrifying", I do mean it in the most complimentary way possible. Clive (for 'tis his name) may be as sinister as the nautical polar night is long, but as freaky advertising creatures go, he's a distinctively awesome specimen because...well, just watch the above ad. I'm sure you can figure it out.
Got it? Good.
Clive made his debut in 1998, in a campaign created by Young & Rubican London, which saw him navigating the wilder side of nocturnal bar culture in order to indulge his affection for Schweppes, everyone's favourite Swiss brand of carbonated tonic water. Originally, his suave vocals came courtesy of Kelsey Grammer, who imbued the spotted cat with the same blend of dashing sophistication and bubbling malevolence that have consistently made his performances as Sideshow Bob such a class act. Grammer's talents were perfectly suited to voicing a leopard, the kind of glamorous-yet-lethal beast whose elegance dazzles but you just know is gearing up to sink his teeth into the back of your neck the instant you let your guard down, as prospective dinner date Madame Gazelle is at risk of finding out. That gazelle, incidentally, is a source of endless confusion for me. She does sound somewhat reminiscent of Daphne from Frasier, which seems entirely appropriate as an allusion to Grammer's most famous role, but I'm not 100% sure if it actually is Jane Leeves providing her vocals. If it is her, then it is admittedly a tad disconcerting to see what is effectively Frasier (albeit in feline form) putting the moves on Daphne period, let alone with such blatant predatory undertones.
Nevertheless, "Watering Hole" is a triumph, with a surreal quality that goes well beyond the novelty of seeing Savannah fauna served by human maître d's. There's a dark, deadly undercurrent that feels less like something out of a species-tweaked version of Frasier than it does Twin Peaks (the red colour scheme and slinky jazz soundtrack give it the distinctly hypnotic air of a dream that Agent Cooper is having after consuming slightly rancid cherry pie). The digital wizardry and genteel parlance of the four-legged bar patrons barely conceal the savagery of their underlying animal natures - the Watering Hole feels alive and dangerous, a seductive wilderness all unto itself. As for the Daphne Moon gazelle, I do have one further question. Is that elephant really her boyfriend or does she just like having him trail her around for bodyguard purposes (smart move, given the kinds of insatiable souls she's obligated to rub shoulders with at the Watering Hole)? If the former, then are they, you know, intimate? Because how would that even work? We're into serious Hot Skitty on Wailord Action territory here.
The follow-up ad caught Clive on vacation and took a darker turn than its predecessor. Rather than merely work his predatory magic on a suspecting gazelle and get cock-blocked by an elephant, it's implied that Clive has Christopher the Crocodile murder a particularly inconsiderate jet-skier on his behalf. A third spot, "Taste of Elephant", saw Clive's vacation continue as he stayed on his sun lounger and reminisced fondly about his salad days (when he was distinctively not a salad eater).
After the initial trilogy, Grammer quit the gig for unknown reasons and British actor Stephen Fry took over as Clive in subsequent ads. Fry, of course, sounds nothing like Grammer, so we might as well regard his take on Clive as a completely different character from this point onward. Oh sure, Fry's a pretty solid go-to guy for calm sophistication, but he doesn't convey the same degree of cutthroat malevolence as Grammer, and Clive's personality appears to have been neutered to match. Check out the below ad, "Fancy Dress", and you'll notice that Clive seems considerably less mean than when Grammer was voicing him. The concept is as visually playful as always, but if there's one thing that Clive is lacking here it's just a little more bite. Fry's Clive is essentially an overgrown pussycat.
According to this website, Tiger Friends, Clive was played by a leopard named Chance and appeared in a total of ten commercials (although only nine are listed on the site). Most of the ads are linked for download, although I had zero joy in getting a peep out of any of them. Hopefully you'll have more luck in getting them to play than me.
Clive reappeared in a new Schweppes ad in 2010 (this one from UK-based agency Mother), only this time he'd lost his gift of the gab and had discarded all other traces of anthropomorphism. Somehow or other, he'd wound up as the pet in a prosaic suburban household and was throwing his bestial weight around while his adoptive human family stood nonchalantly and sipped Schweppes. It was certainly nice to see Schweppes tip the hat to their old mascot again, although the ad, while sufficiently quirky, didn't quite meet the giddying heights of sinister oddness as those featuring the tonic-drinking feline at the top of his game. Unlike the below print ad from Spain (circa 2000), in which Clive's likeness haunts the appalling image of a dog and a cat caught living together in sin (a gazelle and an elephant are quite unobjectionable by comparison). Here, Clive has become the emblem for all things twisted, off-kilter and delectably transgressive, overlooking the world's most eye-popping impieties as they're laid bare and lapping them up in all their subversive glory. The eyes of Clive are forever watching, so be sure to show your aberrant best.
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