Monkey gets into bed with Bulldog
Bulldog Licensing signs TV ad legend Monkey
Bulldog Licensing has signed a deal that will see it representing Monkey, the star of the hilarious TV ads for ITV Digital and PG Tips. Monkey first graced UK screens when his double act with Jonny Vegas featured in a series of ads for ITV Digital, quickly winning him a cult following. The demise of ITV Digital saw Monkey at the centre of a custody battle which resulted in him being adopted by the charity Comic Relief. Very soon, PG Tips snapped him up to front its multi-million pound television advertising campaign and the duo now feature in the iconic commercials for PG Tips tea, making Monkey one of the very few advertising characters to transcend the product alongside which they appear and to be used in conjunction with a completely different campaign.
2011 sees the 10th anniversary of Monkey, yet very little Monkey merchandise has ever been produced. Where product has come to market, it has served to prove that there is a huge appetite for it - plush that went on sale during the ITV Digital era ended up selling on eBay for anything up to £300, and was at one stage the number one selling line in The Gadget Shop.
Monkey is a graduate of RADA, a television star, a cultural icon and one of the most saleable brands in Britain for the 16-34 year old consumer. He has over 10,000 friends on Facebook, and is watched by people in their hundreds of thousands on Youtube as well as having recently re-signed his agreement with PG Tips which will see him star in yet more massively high profile TV advertising.
Initially targeting the fashion community, Bulldog will be rolling out Monkey merchandise across apparel, accessories, plush and gift in the early stages and is confident that there will be an enormously positive reaction from the licensing industry which has been keen to develop programmes on the brand for some time.
“Monkey is an absolute icon and presents huge possibilities,” says Bulldog MD Rob Corney, “everybody loves Monkey and it’s not very often you get to licence the rights to someone who’s already so highly placed in the list of most influential people in licensing! The awareness of Monkey is incredibly high and he has a huge cache as a fashion leader and cultural icon.”
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