BMB to relaunch Mr Men TV show

Beattie McGuinness Bungay has won the 1m brief to relaunch iconic children’s show Mr Men, which will air on Five later this month.

Beattie McGuinness Bungay has won the £1m brief to relaunch iconic children’s show Mr Men, which will air on Five later this month.

The agency won the brief from Mr Men rights owner Chorion without a pitch. It will work alongside Five to promote the series, which launches on February 25 on the broadcaster’s Milkshake! strand. The show is billed as the “first animated sketch show” and will feature characters including Mr Rude and Little Miss Sunshine.

BMB has been briefed to get a new generation “excited” about the Mr Men and will produce sticker inserts to promote the show in the weekend press prior to launch. BMB is also running a high profile street team programme in cities and regions including London, Manchester, Birmingham and Yorkshire.

Mr Men characters will distribute stickers to children. They will be backed by brand communications teams who will talk to parents about the show and how the “retro” brand has evolved in a bid to capitalise on the nostalgia effect of the Roger Hargreaves-created characters. The Mr Men were first created in a series of books in 1971 with the first shows following three years later.

Media planning and buying is through Good Stuff, and BMB’s experiential campaign will be backed by TV trailers and listings ads, created by Five and its roster agencies.

Chorion, run by Labour peer Lord Alli, also owns the rights to Noddy and Paddington. It bought the Mr Men rights for £28m in 2004 and plans to sell the TV series internationally. It is understood that further Mr Men marketing activity will run through the year and Chorion is believed to have negotiated a raft of licensing deals.

It recently signed a deal with Persil, allowing the Unilever brand to give away toys in packs of detergent.

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