Bow Regards

Not so long ago, penguins were generating heat in the advertising industry. Well, we're nothing if not a nation short on attention span. Nowadays we're spotting cows pitching everything from milk (OK, we get it) to laptop computers (huh?). Says brand-name strategist Nick Shore, owner of Nickandpaul, a New York City-based brand agency, "A lot of the stuff I'm seeing now I wonder `Why is there a cow in this?' "

Pressed to explain the sudden advertising appeal of bovines, however, Shore proposes a couple of theories. First and foremost, he says, cows are just plain funny. "They're [also] quite Zen," he offers. "They're like life's observers. You know, they just stand and watch and absorb [what's going on]. You look into their eyes, and it seems they've got a soul--unlike sharks, for instance."

Our theory? Simple: Cows just look moo-velous.

This article was originally published in the September 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Bow Regards.