Yogi Bear stars in the Muller ad. Watch the full clip here .
I never thought that when I ranted about the rubbish new Müller ad it would generate such debate, or more accurately disagreement. Still at least I know how it feels to be Liz Jones at the Daily Mail. I have in fact received so much correspondence about the matter that I’m going to claim editor’s prerogative and argue my case further in another article.
A detailed comment left by Graham White pointed out the different commercial pedigrees of some of the characters I suggested (apparently the Smurfs have been about since 1952 – who knew?). One of my complaints about the ad Müller ad is that the characters don’t inspire much of a feeling of nostalgia, especially for the UK audience. KITT the car was admittedly very cool in his day, but like Pat Sharp and Tiffany, he is one of the 80s icons that the revival has left behind.
For the same reason that the transformers returned for a multi-million dollar franchise and the BoBots didn’t, some character properties just don’t age well. Despite a big budget reboot in 2010 starring Justing Timberlake, Yogi still languishes in the bargain basement of cartoon characters. The defence of Müllers choice of characters on the basis that better ones are more expensive is a cop out. The choice of lesser characters would have worked had there been more of them. A collection of almost-forgotten icons from yesteryear would have sparked more of those “I’d forgotten about them” moments and been a lot more rewarding for the viewer.
Perhaps Rocky and Bullwinkle were busy.
The nationality of the ad is all off kilter. Beyond the American stars like KITT, Yogi and Muttley, the Mr Men are an odd addition. Yes, the Mr Men franchise might be a global publishing concern, but to British audiences, at least those of an age who would find them nostalgic, Mr Men on TV means the scribbled cartoons voiced by Arthur Lowe (of Dad’s Army fame). If the Mr Greedy et al had been joined by Paddington Bear, the Flumps, Mr Ben, King Rollo and the Chockabloke in his electric car from Chockablock, it might have struck a stronger chord.
Perkin, Posey and Pootle from The Flumps
Sadly, I don’t work in advertising (although if anyone from Kitcatt Nohr is reading, feel free to get in touch) but if I did and had the opportunity to make the ad myself, I would have case from the following list.
Crazy Leg Crane, from the Pink Panther Show
Admittedly the list has a strong UK bias, but there is no reason why local characters couldn’t be substituted in other markets, like Asterix in France or the Moomins for Scandinavia.
So I stand by original criticism that the ad doesn’t work and have yet to hear a convincing argument to the contrary. The characters fail to generate the wünderful feeling the ad claims, so it fails, however ingenious the technical execution.
They should have taken a leaf out Peter Kay’s book.
To promote its latest candy, sweet manufacturer Ezaki Glico produced a series of TV spots unveiled a a completely fabricated character to endorse its product. Check out the video of this case study here !
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