The new breed of characters afoot in the land of brand pitchmen is sardonic, self-aware and more ironic than iconic. Perhaps the most self-aware of the upstarts, the Geico Gecko, speaks openly of his
celebrity role and plainly acknowledges that his job is to get people to buy his insurance. While Mr. Clean would likely balk at identifying himself as a pitchman, the Gecko is happy to. "It just
seems that this self-awareness helps lower people's barriers to your message," says Steve Bassett at the Martin Agency, which created the Gecko. Then there's Travelocity's Roaming Gnome and the mute
king of Burger King commercials, who seem to exist only to mock the idea of brand characters and the earnestness of such company icons as the Pillsbury Doughboy.
Today's characters don't just
bellow "Ho, ho, ho!" They have story lines. A successful story, says Character, an Oregon-based company that specializes in developing and reviving brand characters, is one that speaks to a
fundamental truth about the human condition. It's no longer enough for Sonny the bird to tell us that he's cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. We need to understand the inner demons that drive the poor bird close
to insanity. Character partner David Altschul claims this new breed of brand character is necessary because the audience is grown up and less gullible.
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