New soft toy character selling something
Those highly paid marketing executives have once again earned their corn.
A new campaign is being launched to promote digital channel Virgin1 - and they've hatched a method which will rock the industry.
Or not. As it happens the campaign is not entirely dissimilar to that Johnny Vegas and 'Monkey' soft toy one of a few years ago during the ITV Digital promotion.
In fact the cuddly toy protagonist is almost identical - except it's red. Red by nature and Red by name (you'll recall Virgin's logo is red...).
There's the usual 'viral' touches, offering 'fans' (fans - hah) the chance to interact with the character on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and blog pages.
Jeff Dodds, the brand and marketing director of Virgin Media Television, said: "He's exactly the kind of character that our viewers love and we're sure his impish charm will play a major part in the success of our rebrand."
Or to be more exact he's exactly the sort of character viewers (inexplicably) loved when it appeared for the first time in the ads with cuddly funnyman Vegas.
The whole thing puts me rather in mind of 'Poochie' from the Simpsons.
Below: The original, and, goshdarn it, absolutely LEGENDARY Monkey. (all right it's a soft toy selling something).
No Wait! NOOO - just noticed - those Krazy Kats in the marketing department at Virgin1 have missed something! You'll not that 'Monkey' above is wearing a t-shirt, wait for it, bearing the name of product to be plugged. Whereas 'Red' isn't. Guys you've missed a trick there. The oldest one in the book - ie putting the name of the product on the thing which is promoting it.
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Ben Hurst
I'm disappointed you have likened my to Monkey. Any one who knows him, can tell you he is not 'magic' as his preferred nickname suggests. he is talentless, flunked his puppet acting exams and relies on that block from benidorm to cover up his gaffes.
I, on the other hand, have been into outerspace, stood on a very small moon and like to waterski with fit young blondes. I also have my own fingers and toes.
To be fair Red you've got a point - you've got experiences. You can say: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those... moments will be lost in time... like... tears... in rain."
While all Monkey can say is that he sat in a car with a fat bloke. Now the big question - is Johnny Vegas a replicant?
Could Johnny Vegas be a replicant?
It is an interesting question that would require an in-depth debate about what is humanity and whether memory is what makes us human, particularly in the way the film you refer to thematically enfolded the philosophy of religion and moral implications of human mastery of genetic engineering in the context of classical Greek drama and hubris.
Unfortunately - as I thought would be blindingly obvious to someone like yourself - I am a thespian puppet darling with cotton wool for a brain.
I'd be grateful if you had a number for the Wizard of Oz, I heardhe did wonders with that scarecrow bloke. I hear he has just done a PhD