Canadians choose hippos over broadband
Canadian ISP Telus has a hit TV commercial on its hands. Trouble is, it’s prompting people to go out and buy toy hippopotamuses, not the company’s Internet services. It’s the song in the ad that has viewers enthralled: a 1950s Gayla Peevey tune called “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.” Not everyone wants a hippo, the commercial says. Some people want broadband. No, actually they want hippos. Toy hippos—plush, plastic, it doesn’t matter—have been selling like crazy in Calgary. “For whatever reason their kids are drawn to this hippo and this song,” says one owner of a toy store. “[Telus has] done animal commercials forever. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
—Posted by Tim Nudd
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AdFreak is your daily blog of the best and worst of creativity in advertising, media, marketing and design. Follow us as we celebrate (and skewer) the latest, greatest, quirkiest and freakiest commercials, promos, trailers, posters, billboards, logos and package designs around. Edited by Adweek's Tim Nudd. Updated every weekday, with a weekly recap on Saturdays.
