Mao Mao, the feline car model that earns more than most humans
2 min read
Mao Mao, a two-year-old British Shorthair from Chongqing, China, works as a professional cat model and earns between 5,000 yuan ($775) and 10,000 yuan (1,550) per appearance.
Mao Mao’s rise to fame was somewhat of an accident: her owner, a man surnamed Zheng, works in the automotive industry, and during an auto show he had the brilliant idea of putting his pet cat into one of the cars.
That immediately drew a crowd of people who couldn’t wait to take a photo of the cute feline and share it on their social media pages. That meant more exposure for the car brands, and so Zheng started promoting Mao Mao as a cat model to car brands looking for extra attention.
Nowadays, Mao Mao is a household name at car exhibitions and routinely counts a few appearances per month.
So what are the requirements to being a feline professional car model?
Well, just like the human equivalent of the job, it’s all about looking cute and attracting attention, and for Mao Mao is easy. Her pouty face, natural attitude and the myriad of costumes that Zheng had made for her make the feline irresistible, so it’s no wonder she’s a popular model.
Moreover, Mao Mao loves being the center of attention. While most other cats would feel overwhelmed by the attention and maybe even run and hid, she is the opposite, and that’s what makes her a professional car model.
Mao Mao earns anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 yuan per appearance, and her owner only accepts three or four events per month.
Of course, Zheng makes sure to reward his pet for her “effort”, buying her only the most expensive cat food and pampering her like the star that she is!