Mullen Lowe recently launched a campaign for freight rail company CSX featuring a sitcom-inspired webcam series called “The Intermodals.”
The series stars Mike The Train, Carl The Truck, Bob The Crane, Randy+Sandy The Stacked Containers and Rosie The Ship. It’s a goofy, tongue-in-cheek take on edutainment, that borrows from sitcom-style humor while calling to mind Thomas The Tank Engine in its style and talking vehicles. The series’ 15 webisodes, designed to educate viewers about how different modes of transportation work in harmony to move goods, are housed at www.theintermodals.com, where visitors can also explore the set, view profiles of the cast, download “The Intermodals” wallpaper and play Modal Mania, “a game coded by Mullen Lowe that challenges visitors to place shipping containers on the correct mode of transportation—truck, train or ship.” Currently, the web series is being promoted with a takeover of CNN.com and the CNN app.
“One of our goals with ‘The Intermodals’ was to first create content that people are compelled to watch and share, explained Jason Black, executive creative director at Mullen Lowe Winston-Salem. “In doing so, we hope they also learn something about intermodal transportation.”