Former Euro RSCG, Sydney ECD Rowan Dean: Louie’s demise was a sting operation
September 25 2011, 9:10 pm | | 12 Comments
Two weeks after Mortein announced it was killing off Louie The Fly, Rowan Dean, the former Euro RSCG, Sydney executive creative director (whose remit also included the Mortein account) claims – as do many ad industry observers – that it was a stunt all along.
Euro RSCG launched a new campaign today which includes TV, outdoor, print and social media. To date, over 16,500 people Like the Louie The Fly Facebook page.
Dean has this to say in today’s National Times online:
SURPRISE, surprise. Louie The Fly faked his own death. The announcement only two weeks ago from Mortein that it intended to eliminate the advertising mascot was a stunt all along. READ MORE
12 Comments
Jaded ex-CD who didn’t do anything cool with the character himself taking it out on his replacements.
For god’s sakes Rowan, buzz off will ya.
Those who can, do, those who can’t talk.
There’s a hell of a lot of people talking about ads in the media these days, yet what have they done?
He raises a valid point. There’s a growing trend to shift advertising into sneaky, pretend, online stunts. You don’t have to be very good at advertising to do it, and you save a lot of money on production and media, not to mention creative, planning and associated services and salaries. A sort of amateurish DIY advertising.
Here’s a better idea – kill off the character like you were planning to. Let the facebook page grow. But don’t bring the little fella back. Just let the thing grow and generate it’s own goodwill. Help cultivate it by providing the group with content (old ads etc). Louie is a nostalgia character now, not really a salesman. Over the last few years (especially since he became 3D) he’s had little to do with the advertising bar a few little quips here and there, eons away from what he used to be.
Actually, kill is probably the wrong word. Retire him. And let people remember him.
That will be much better for Mortein then hoodwinking your customers.
Sorry, got off track.
What I meant to say was – stop wasting everyone’s time Mr Dean.
Can someone please start a Facebook page that is in favour of killing of Louie for good? I bet there are a lot of people that would ‘Like’ that.
Can someone please tell Mortein we don’t want to engage with the product unless we have flys in our house. Mortein you are fly spray… Nothing more … nothing less…. N0 one cares about your crappy little animation from the middle ages. Get out of our lives.
How many other brands have a character that’s a household name across multiple generations? Not many, I’d suggest.
Even if he disappears from the advertising, he won’t really be dead.
Or someone that could ‘like’ killing Euro.
Clearly ‘Consumer Girl’ and ‘Sister Mortein’ (a natty rock reference which would sail over the heads of the teenyboppers who visit this blog) are not one and the same person. This is essentially the same discussion as the vexing VB beer issue. When you have a powerful brand property/brand identifier built up over generations, you abandon it at your peril.
Score: Consumer Girl 0, Sister Mortein 1.
Oh, Consumer Girl, darling, it’s ‘flies’, not ‘flys’ .
Yes we know you were the ECD of Euro!
Wow. Bit of a low blow by the ex ECD, just makes him look all the more bitter and twisted he still hasn’t found a job.