Lowe Howard-Spink unveils a radical new campaign for Scalextric
this week, in which children take second place to their dads.
The campaign is the first work from Lowes since it won the account for
Hornby Hobbies, Scalextric’s parent company, in May.
Two jokey ads celebrate the benefits of having a baby boy - it allows
dads to rush out and buy a Scalextric set. Both commercials use the
endline, ’It’s a boy thing’.
The first ad, entitled ’beautiful boy’, opens in a maternity ward. A man
picks up what seems to be his new-born son. He chats to the baby about
the fun they will have playing Scalextric together as he whizzes the
child up and down the ward as if racing a car. Then a nurse tells him to
give the baby back to its real parents and to play with his own
daughter. He shuffles over to his wife, feebly waving a doll.
Peter Newey, chairman of Hornby, said: ’We’ve taken an unusual step in
changing our targeting so dramatically, but we’re tapping in to the cult
of Scalextric that has stayed with many men since childhood.’
The ads were written by Paul Silburn, art directed by Vince Squibb and
directed by Paul Weiland through Paul Weiland Films.
The pounds 1 million campaign broke on Sky Sport 1 during Wednesday’s
England v Czechoslovakia game. The first terrestrial TV spot will
coincide with the Champions League football coverage on ITV on 25
November. Media buying is by Western International Media.
