Bulldog Licensing signs new deals for TV ad legend Monkey
Bulldog Licensing has announced details of two new agreements for Monkey, the star of the hilarious TV ads for ITV Digital and PG Tips, with Posh Paws and GB Eye both coming on board for a range of products.
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 in a licence to front their 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.
Although 2011 marks the character’s tenth year in showbiz, very little Monkey merchandise has ever been produced. Despite this, Monkey was nominated as 13th Most Influential Person in Licensing in 2008 by the Licensing Leaders poll, placing him ahead of personalities from Coolabi, 4Kids and Aardman amongst others! Monkey made his long awaited BLE Show debut at this year’s event, which led to Bulldog fielding huge levels of interest from the licensing community.
The new deals will see Posh Paws producing a range of plush featuring Monkey – including talking plush and beanies - whilst GB Eye is set to launch a line of posters featuring the country’s leading woolly actor.
“We are delighted to be announcing these new deals,” says Bulldog MD Rob Corney, “retailers have been absolutely crying out for Monkey plush so the Posh Paws deal couldn’t have come at a better time and I’m sure that Monkey posters and wall art will prove to be equally popular. This represents the start of what is sure to be a strong and wide ranging licensing programme – we are in talks with licensees across a range of other sectors and are expecting to make more announcements very soon.”
Social Links