February, 2026

3 minutes read

They say the internet belongs to cats. For years, these endearing creatures have ruled our news feeds, becoming unavoidable pop culture icons. For its new global campaign dedicated to the New PEUGEOT 308, the brand decided to play with this universal fascination… but in its own way. Forget empty roads and technical speeches: the “Kittens” film drops the New 308 into a metropolis overrun by irresistibly cute — almost too well-behaved — kittens.

A bold metaphor: these kittens represent an automotive world that has become uniform and interchangeable, lulled into complacency by overly consensual design.

“Faced with these charming but harmless kittens, the new 308 hits like an electric shock. It asserts its authority, its elegance and its boldness,” explains Élodie Bugat, International Brand Content Manager at PEUGEOT.

The New 308 doesn’t try to blend into the background. It breaks away and asserts an attitude.

Make way for the Lion!

At a time when CGI offers ever-expanding creative possibilities, PEUGEOT made a strong choice for “Kittens”: grounding the film in reality by working with real animals — a decision embraced from the very first stages of the project.

“Kittens are cute because they’re real. For twenty years, they’ve been internet icons, and their spontaneity can’t be programmed,” explain Julien and Quentin, the film’s directors. Life brings unpredictability and naturalness, instantly creating emotion and capturing the viewer’s attention.

That said, this pursuit of authenticity doesn’t exclude modern technology. Artificial intelligence comes in at the very end of the production chain, supporting the work done on set by enhancing certain details that would be impossible to achieve at this scale.

“It’s used for the final touches of realism,” the teams explain. A tool in service of the creative vision, used with precision to enhance reality — never to replace it.

The result on screen is striking. But behind these 60 seconds lies a real technical feat. A miniature city was built entirely by hand, designed to scale for the kittens.

“Finding the ideal scale was a real headache,” admits Clément, the film’s producer.

“A cat is vertical, not horizontal like a car. We ran hundreds of tests to find the right proportions.”

Then came the challenge of managing 30 kittens on set. “It’s the hardest animal to direct,” he acknowledges.

“Even with three trainers, it required a lot of patience. We rolled the dice every time: sometimes the right take came after 14 attempts, sometimes on the very first.”

One anecdote perfectly illustrates this spontaneity:

“We were worried about a scene where a kitten had to reverse, like parking. We thought we’d have to shoot it backwards… and suddenly, it did a perfect parallel park. The entire set erupted with joy!”

In the end, the real challenge was simply getting them to walk straight — a mission far more complex than it sounds!

Behind the magic, exemplary rigor. “Each litter was monitored by a veterinarian before, during and after the shoot,” Clément explains. The kittens never filmed for more than 30 minutes at a time. Silence on set, a reduced crew, safe materials (even replacing foam with whipped egg whites)… everything was designed with their comfort in mind.

“We wanted them to experience a day of play, not constraint,” insist Julien and Quentin. This attention isn’t just ethical — it’s creative.

“A stressed animal won’t perform. To capture spontaneity, you have to create an environment where it feels safe,” they explain.

With “Kittens,” PEUGEOT delivers far more than an advertisement: it’s a manifesto for authenticity. In a world saturated with artificial images, the brand chooses the truth of the living world to embody values of boldness, elegance and power.

“We wanted to surprise, capture attention and create a pop-culture moment,” say Julien and Quentin.

Mission accomplished: the film intrigues, entertains and captivates.

In an automotive world that has become too tame, the New PEUGEOT 308 roars.

It doesn’t follow the trend — it creates it.