Ammirati Puris Lintas has unveiled a pounds 1 million campaign to launch
Animal, a computer adventure game starring the cult animal character
from the agency’s award-winning Peperami snack food campaign.
The game will launch into high street stores on 15 November and will be
backed by a national television and press advertising push.
The press work also rolls out next month in key consumer and PC titles.
It shows the tall, manic-looking animal character with a knife in one
hand and the other outstretched towards a submissive ‘couch potato’ type
in braces. The strapline says: ‘Here, let me take your jacket.’
In the corner is a picture of the game’s outer cover showing the
animal’s staring eyes and the single word ‘animal’ picked out in
graffiti-like type. Underneath is the line: ‘PC CD-Rom. It’s a byte of
an animal.’
TV ads break in January to coincide with the post-Christmas games rush.
The 20-second TV ad combines separate footage of the Peperami character
with clips from the game itself. The ad was written by John Peacock, art
directed by Frank Cookson, and directed by Ken Lidster at Loose Moose.
The game is being positioned as the first combination role-play and
Doom-style ‘beat ’em up’ - or in this case, ‘eat ’em up’ - game. It will
initially be available on PC CD-Roms and will target 18- to 22-year-old
males and children aged 11- to 18-years-old who are computer games
freaks.
Media planning is being handled by APL, while Initiative Media is
responsible for buying.
The press ads were also written by Peacock and art directed by Cookson.
Adrian Edmondson, the star of the TV comedy, Bottom, will be the voice
of the ‘animal’ in the game.
