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At a cat adoption center in Boise, Idaho, the resident mascot — a buff tabby tuxedo named Crash — paid tribute to the only cat that ever served as a Cadbury Egg “Bunny.” And he’ll even put on his cute bunny ears sometimes!
Crash’s journey began with the trauma that inspired his name back in November 2018. One morning, when Patty Cutler, executive director of Simply Cats, came into work, she saw a cat lying in the middle of the road. The car had hit the cat, and Cutler wasn’t sure if it was still alive.
But, he approached to help, and the cat got under his car. Cutler brought the cat into the shelter, where veterinary staff provided him with emergency, life-saving care. Afterward, shelter staff moved the cat to another clinic for critical care. They knew the badly injured cat – with a broken left front leg, broken jaw, and right eye out of its socket – was facing an uphill battle to survive, but it was worth it.
“As long as he kept fighting and doing well, they were willing to give him a chance to fight,” said Jenn Hernandez, outreach and fundraising coordinator for Simply Cats.
“He definitely put up with the fight,” Hernandez said in an interview with one publication. “It was a long journey to bring him back to the state he is in now.
A few months later, Crash was found in an accident. The shelter staff loved him so much that they decided to keep him as a Simply Cats resident.
Then in 2023, shelter worker Maddie Corey saw on social media that someone in Boise had entered a dog in the Cadbury Bunny contest, which was open to animals other than rabbits. Those graphic ads, traditionally with a rabbit eating Cadbury Easter eggs, are so cute!
Corey thought that Crash could win because he was trained on camera and would give high scores. In addition, the cat is friendly and easy-going, so Corey thought he would make a good mascot. Corey posted this video of the experiment.
And sure enough, in March 2023, Cadbury announced Crash as the winner of the fifth annual Cadbury Bunny Tryouts! That year it was the Rescue Pets Edition, and the Crash competition included a chinchilla, a duck, and a sheep. Crash starred in several YouTube commercials and ads, and won a total of $10,000 in cash, split into two $5,000 prizes, going to Simply Cats.
Crash brought a lot of attention to Simply Cats, who held a meet and greet event where people could meet Crash in his bunny ears and get his “Pawtograph”.
“We’re jumping for joy to hear Crash is the next Cadbury Bunny but it’s no surprise, as he’s always a focal point in any room,” Corey said in a Cadbury press release. “He’s been through a lot in the last few years and we appreciate the love his friends, family and cat lovers across the country have shown him.”
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In the 2024 tryouts, a racoon named Louie followed Crash as the Cadbury Bunny from a pool of winners that included a rabbit, three cats, a dog, a horse, and even a lizard. It seems there was no contest for 2025, for some reason.
Two years after becoming a Cadbury bunny, Crash is living a happy life as the shelter’s mascot, who has his own little room where he hangs out at 5 p.m. and loves to roam the human-only area and love the people there, Hernandez said. He likes to jump on people’s shoulders and wear it like a scarf around his neck. Crash also enjoys standing on his hind legs and giving high-fives.
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He says: “He has a really quirky, friendly, and friendly personality. “Everybody likes him and loves him. … He was a very worthy person.”
Every morning, Crash – nicknamed Crashie-Poo – wakes up bright and early in his bedroom, complete with cat tower and window perch. She enjoys visiting with the other cats at the shelter, which has about 40 to 80 females at any given time. Crash, about 7 years old, is very friendly and outgoing, and goes to all the staff looking for love.
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“We joke that he’s our little CEO,” Hernandez said.
Crash is still occasionally seen at events with his bunny ears, and the tabby gets lots of visitors at Simply Cats’ quarterly open house events.
What a blessing Crash has been to the shelter! She helped bring attention to Simply Cats and the shelter’s work, Hernandez said.
“She represents everything we stand for: resilience and hope, helping wonderful cats and cats in need,” she said. “He is also a reminder to the community that every cat is worth saving.”
Crash continues to raise money for the shelter using t-shirts and other clothing with his image on them. You can order one here.