Bubbleblog

Have you heard of the C.M.O.N.S (pronounced come on!)? Well, they are ‘the latest thing’ in advertising.

They are five knitted puppets. Not only this, but they are pitched as an actual band from Barcelona (who’ve been making albums since 2000).

Of course puppets aren’t new as a vehicle for advertising. Remember Flat Eric (1999) or the ITV Digital Monkey (2002) which, even after the demise of ITV Digital, lives on?

The C.M.O.N.S. are the brainchild of ad agency DLKW & Partners in London and Boris Hoppek (a German artist with a cult following). They are, in fact, the latest ad campaign for the new Vauxhall Corsa… and they are supposed to ‘Put the Fun back into driving’… summed up with their campaign line “new Corsa. C’mon!”

The Cmons started to get a big fan base, as they pre-seeded the traditional media routes (TV ads, print, etc.) with some new web 2.Oh (c’mon!) paths. You see, as well as the obvious www.thecmons.com they set up a Myspace account or two (one for each band member if you look at the ‘friends’), and a youTube video or two.

This has successfully duped a web 2.doh youf audience into believing they were in fact a) a real band (one comment reads “keep up the mystery” as if the puppets were like members of KISS), and b) that they think the Corsa ad is now cool because they are in the advert. Like using U2 to sell iPods… Come on! Are you serious?

This creating of a commodity to sell a commodity to sell a commodity is the new world of advertising, after all, it’s worked with the TV series Lost (creating a novel written by one of the characters, the international Hanso Foundation and even a whole airline! In this case, if you don't buy the car, you could buy the 'band' (and their music) and if you don't buy the band you could buy the puppets.

This is a Russian doll approach to advertising that’s adding layer upon layer of myth onto the basics of selling. Or is this yet another (albeit clever) example of the Emperors New clothes?

Add a comment

Comments

Your Name:

Location:

Comment:

Please enter the characters you see in the picture above: