WHOSE ICON IS THIS ANYWAY? Monkey makes leap to Unilever tea brand from satellite service.(News)

Advertising Age, March, 2008 by Hall, Emma

Byline: EMMA HALL

[london] Imagine the Jolly Green Giant selling detergent or Tony the Tiger shilling for toothpaste. British consumers made the equivalent mental leap when Monkey and Al-made famous in ads for satellite-TV service ITV Digital-signed up as ambassadors for Unilever's PG Tips tea brand a year ago. Now Monkey is making another move-to the big screen-for the brand.

By the time ITV Digital shut down in 2002, the Monkey character had become a popular figure, with people so desperate to get their hands on the woolly wonder that knitting patterns were being exchanged on the internet.

Its creator, ad agency Mother, gave the rights to the character to Comic Relief, an anti-poverty charity set up and supported by celebrities from Johnny...

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