[ Versión en Español ]

1998 © Maddog Surf Shop, Australia.

When you think in the word "Werewolf" you almost may associate it with the word "halloween". This time however, I want to remove that link and put it about product and services. Here you can see some real world examples of interesting marketing concepts that break the rule and win the heart of people.

AHH THE POWER OF CHEESE
Dairy Products of America, 1998 US

Submitted by Thomas "Wolff": "Funny story is that cheese commercial. Where there one peace left and the guy try to take it and his mother pops on his shoulder and says "Where you raised by wolves?" Then the last guy has a wolf on his shoulder that howls. And take the cheese. My nephew tell me sister "Look mom it's Uncle Tommy. Could have died laughing."

[ QuickTime 6© Video - 1.6 MB ]

ANABUKI CHAN
Anabuki Co., 2001-2006 JP

- She's Anabuki Chan!
- Hi!
Now let's sing when Anabuki Chan dances with all her friends from the forest. The wolf, the deer, the bear and the rabbit... and the big raccoon! Wow! Anabuki Chan will help you to get the best apartment in Japan, she will build it with the best materials, design and quality. In the best places of the country, like a mother making a den for her children (so why the big breasts in some of the ads?). In their website, you can download a tone for your cellular phone, promotional videos; get the Anabuki Chan club card and more! This hilarious campaign from Japan features awesome animal costumes that look like real animals.

[ QuickTime 6© Video - 800 KB ]

AXE DEODORANT
Univeller 2002 - MX

Since some years ago, this deodorant brand launched a marketing ad campaign about that its fragrance attract babes like bees to honey. Of course the males in the ads use it for score with a woman, with results who comes from silly to ludicrous situations. In some mexican magazines we saw a local variation of the ad: What is the easiest way to get the Lilt Red Riding Hood? The Axe deodorant of course!!! You can see in the picture made by the mexican cartoonist Bachan the results. Sadly only in odd times the ads campaigns are true. Well we can still dream-on. :)

Axe ad art by Bachan

BLOODY ROAR
Hudson Soft Co, 1998 JP

Do you think that people around you is normal? Think twice because a sexy rabbit woman may be near you. But this time is not for hug and kiss you, because is time to WHOOP SOME @SS IN BLOODY ROAR for the Sony Playstation! You can notice odd changes in people who like to play this game. So be prepared for the wild bashing battle in this 1998, by Hudson. Oh yeah, looking at this kind of ads make us wonder what smoke the marketing department for made the ads. Or is the norm in Japan? *grin*

[ QuickTime 6© Video - 1.7 MB ]

CHANNEL 5 SCENT
Coco Channel Inc, 1998 FR (Worldwide campaign)

A postmodern, sexy and not-so-young Little Red Riding Hood runs into a forest and enters to the Grandma's house, inside she runs into a bank vault in a high tech stand. Of course a hungry wolf follows this delicious creature. She opens the vault for get a Channel 5 perfume flask and then it triggers a gate to Paris with the Eiffel Tower image in the landscape. She goes out and the wolf try to follow her, then she comes back and scold the wolf saying "Shhh! Keep the secret" to him and then she run away. Then the lone wolf howls sadly while the gate closes behind him.

COOKIE CRISP
Nestle / General Mills Inc, 2002-2006 MX
(Maybe available in US/Latinamerica too)

Another player in the cereal breakfast war is this werewolf from Cookie Crips cereal. As its name says, the cereal is made like small chocolate chip cookies. The ads for this cereal are not so far from the Trix rabbit plot, the wolf try any kind of trick for bribe the cereal from any nearby kids. But his plot fails and the kids get back the cereal just in time for the breakfast. Even the final quote is the same: "Cookie Crips is only for kids". This may be you chance to get a toonish werewolf for your breakfast in case you missed the original Fruit Brute.

     

This is a 3-image box scan of the cereal from its debut in 2002.

COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET BEER
Molson-Coors Brewing Co., 1983-1992 US

When the company Coors Brewing Inc. introduced a new beer called Silver Bullet Coors Light Beer -in a try to have Halloween as their holyday-, they used a werewolf named "The Beerwolf", using a word joke about the brand (Silver bullet-werewolf). The original slogan of the marketing campaign was "You bring out the beast inside me". Beerwolf had some success in the "party-animal" but faded into oblivion in the 90's.

HEY YOU! There are so much more of Coors Beerwolf in Mike's Den: The complete history,
collectibles guide and so on! Bring out your inner beast now!

E-COMMERCE AD
Anderson Consulting, 2000 US

This is maybe one of the most famous wolf-jokes in the Internet, I've seen only the sheep in wolf's cloth in almost two dozen of web pages and countless e-mails in the last six years. But finally I could get the whole ad from a borrowed old Wired magazine from 2000. As you can see the text talks about the fashion of e-commerce and why people should consult the experts before be in the wild with the wolves (like hackers maybe?). Now you have the full joke of this sheep. ;)

FROSTED FLAKES
Kellog's Company Inc., 1952-2006 WORLDWIDE

Submitted by Lobo Cinza. Due popular demand I include this character because he is a strong influence in the anthropomorphic media.

"The Tiger is a large hearted gentleman with boundless courage..."
- Jim Corbett

Probably this quote explains why Tony, the tiger from Kellogs main Cereal, it's a huge success around the world for more than five decades and this success seems to show no signs of decline. Tony the Tiger is a character who joins the smartness, funny and healthy life with the beauty, power and kind of a tiger. Tony indeed is the first entry that kids have about animals and anthropomorphic characters, more early than most TV shows, comics or videogames around. It's all anyone can expect from a good friend, a perfect example to be followed by kids worldwide with a message of a healthy and noble life. So he rightfully becomes the one of the big mascots of Kellog's company.

 

Katy the Kangoroo (1952) and Mrs. Tony (1970's)

Born in 1951 by the hands of the children's book illustrator Martin Provensen and voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft for five decades (he passed away in 2005). Tony was the final mascot for the brand behind Newt the Gnu, Elmo the Elephant and Katy the Kangaroo which she did share some early box-front space with Tony. He also won a family along the years: Tony Jr. comes yet in the 1950's. In the 1970's his family grows up with Mama Tony, Mrs. Tony and a daughter called Antoniette (born in 1974, year of tiger in the Chinese calendar) but most people worldwide even don't know that Tony had a family in the past. Probably they lack of the big charisma that Tony still have until nowadays, and their cereals flopped in favor of other characters.

 

Tony Jr. in Forsted Rice box and the old Tony from 1950's

This is the correct example that an anthropomorphic animal can be a good marketing media for any product. Soon several imitators filled the boxes of other cereal brands until nowadays, included Bruit Brute from General Mills and Wolf from Nestle's Cooke Crisps. Curiously the plethora of imitators avoid to use a tiger as their logo, the few ones that dare to put a tiger, soon are removed due the strong influence of Tony in the market. So in the cereal mascot world, Tony is the king of the hill.

More info is available in Kellog's Cereal Page (Lavasurfer) and Tony The Tiger Family.

 

Tony showcased in Latinamerica and United States (current) as well in Japan (old)

FRUIT BRUTE
General Mills, 1975-1983 US

Fruit Brute was the only werebeast creature featured in a halloween monster-themed breakfast cereals produced by General Mills. This cereal contained lime flavored marshmallows and showcases a cartoon werewolf of the same name. Fruit Brute was produced from 1975 to 1983, the production were stopped in some states of Unites States in early dates even. His war cry was a long and loud howling: "FROOOOOOT!". General Mills still distributes three cereals of this line in the US and with Nestlé brand worldwide: Count Chocula (chocolate-flavored), Boo Berry (blueberry-flavored) and Franken Berry (strawberry-flavored). So this was maybe the very only werewolf-character based cereal in the world.

Bruit Brute cereal box and Toy (1975)

FUD JAM
Sigma Alimentos, 1997-1999 MX

Spot 1: Based on the movie "Wolf" with Jack Nicholson, the camera is the eye of the werewolf who roams a house and a woman that made a sandwich on the kitchen. The camera enters to the house and shows the woman's back... you expect blood? Nope, she looks the werewolf and gives him the sandwich. So he howls and eat it, the phrase of this spot is "Fud Products: A taste for wolfish". The uncensored version shows some extra seconds of footage, where the werewolf try to tear kindly with the fangs the zipper of the dress of the woman, you can guess some dirty ideas of this. :)

Spot 2: This new spot uses a hybrid story taken from two werewolf movies. Two kids watch on TV a horror movie: A teenager girl scream and try to escape from a dirty junkyard in a stormy night, because a werewolf is hunting her. This scene try to be almost equal to one scene of "The Howl", but the werewolf looks and acts so goofy like "Teen Wolf" for avoid lose the comedy idea of the story. The girl runs and find a dead-end, she screams in horror because she is doomed to be werewolf dinner. The werewolf approaches to bite her, but suddenly he sniffs and stop to the camera looking at the kids, because they eat jam sandwiches and then he drools for a bit. The woman slaps him because she wants some attention of the wolf guy. And you know the rest, the off-voice with the catchy phrase and the happy werewolf howls while he "wolfish" a sandwich.

FUD SNAX SASUAGES
Sigma Alimentos, 2001-2006 MX

The previous jam ads were targeted to adult people and didn't worked for sell the merchandise, but the ads got an unexpected side effect in kids. So for this situation, Sigma Alimentos launched several spots for kids and launched a sausage brand called Snax with a wolf cub as mascot. You can get those with jam, chili and normal flavors with rare flaover sauces like tamarind and chamoy. (It seems that in our country we're not happy without put a hot and spicy sauce over all food). There lots of ads broadcasted since 2001, so instead to bore you with long descriptions, better see some photos.

Fud Snax package - Normal flavor

Fud Snax Combo package - 5 sausage packs and plushie (Photo 1)

Fud Snax Combo package - 5 sausage packs and plushie (Photo 2)

HICKOK MEN'S LINE CLOTH & ACCESORIES
El Buen Equipaje/Laboratorios Biology, 1970?-2006 MX

This brand of men fashion has a funny logo, a werewolf with a very long muzzle inner a circle. The brand seems to be from Mexico, since the lotions and deodorants were gone form the market for some months, just to be launched with a changed logo and new packages. The ads from 70's and 80's show that even a formal werewolf in suit using this brand.

LOBA LINGERIE
Lupo Co., 2003 BR

My dear brother Jon the Cinza Wolf did send this hot scene from the streets of Brazil. This photo shows a new lingerie brand that will made that any wolf will jump outside his fur and howl! And like an image worth more than a hundred of words, I post this photo for make your lycanthropic brains explode. :)

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