"Unlike me, you've only got one life."
— Claude
Claude the Cat
or Claude the Safety Cat, is a series of PSAs by New Zealand website Worksafe.
Despite the site proper being about safety at work, the Claude the Cat PSAs teach about a variety of safety topics, such as gas heaters, electric blankets, and DIY.
The PSAs feature a talking, safety-conscious cat named Claude who urges the viewers to look after "their only life".
Claude the Cat provides examples of
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Not usually, but...
- In the video on beach safety, Claude wears sunglasses.
- In the video on online shopping, Claude wears reading glasses.
- In the video about keeping warm, Claude dons a gas mask.
- Agony of the Feet: When Claude finds a too-hot area on his owner's electric blanket, it hurts his paw and then smoke comes off his paw.
- Beach Episode: One video is about summertime safety and features Claude at the beach.
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Claude describes the signs a connection is loose as "if the plug is loose, the cord is frayed, sparks are coming out, or the bed suddenly catches fire".
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Claude speaks directly to the audience.
- Butt-Monkey: Claude's owner is often seen having accidents (falling off his ladder, having trouble setting machines up, etc).
- Camping Episode: One video is about how you shouldn't use gas in a tent and another is about not using it in a caravan.
- Canary in a Coal Mine: Discussed when Claude says that you'll pass out and possibly die, just like a canary in a mine, if you use gas in a caravan
- Cats Have Nine Lives: Claude references this trope by saying that, unlike him, humans have only one life.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Claude is a black-furred cat who warns viewers about potential dangers and how to avoid accidents.
- Delicious Daydream: When Claude tells the viewers not to use a gas stove inside a sealed-off caravan or they'll pass out like a canary in a coalmine, he says, "Mmm, canaries!" while imagining one.
- Fainting: Claude's owner passes out once after installing his gas heater in his room.
- Furry Reminder: Claude mainly talks, but in one PSA, he's heard screaming, "Reoww!" (the same sound effect used in That Poor Cat) upon accidentally burning himself.
- Mistaken for Toilet: One PSA reveals that Claude thinks of the beach as a giant litterbox.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Though possibly unintentional, Claude sounds very similar to Stephen Fry.
- No Name Given: Claude's owner and the man who helps him install his heater are unnamed. So is the mouse Claude tries to catch at one point.
- Not So Above It All: Claude is pretty serious and at times acts unamused, but he does sometimes make jokes.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Claude has an English accent, but he sometimes lapses into his voice actor's New Zealand accent by mistake on the actor's part.
- Pun: In one video, Claude says not to let "do it yourself" turn into "do yourself in".
- Signing Off Catchphrase: Claude ends all his videos with "Unlike me, you've only got one life" or "Look after the only life you've got," followed by "Visit worksafe.com and look for me."
- The Speechless: Claude is the only character to speak, unless you count the scream his owner makes while falling off his ladder.
- Talking Animal: Claude occasionally makes humanlike gestures or puts on an accessory, but apart from that he acts the way a normal cat would if granted the power to talk and assigned the task to educate on safety.
- Thermal Dissident: Being a cat, Claude loves heaters and electric blankets, and once stated that "being cold is not [his] idea of fun."
- Toilet Humour:
- If the video is about gas, there will usually be a fart joke.
- In the video on digging, Claude digs and then says, "So much for privacy", implying he wanted to do his business.
- Claude describes the beach as a litter box in the summertime video.
- Too Dumb to Live: Defied by Claude. His owner will often make some dopey mistake that leads to him almost dying, but Claude intervening.
- Underwater Fart Gag: Claude says that gas leaking from a tank produces bubbles "just like in the bath".
