List of European advertising characters
This is a list of notable mascots and characters created specifically for advertising purposes, listed alphabetically by the product they represent.
 |
| Company | Character(s) | Years used | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birds Eye | Captain Birdseye | 1967–present | |
| Churchill | Churchill | 1996–present | Voiced by Bob Mortimer and partners Vic Reeves in adverts. |
| Cillit Bang | Barry Scott | 2007–2016 | Has been replaced by a mechanic dancing to a remix of "she's a maniac" from Flashdance. |
| comparethemarket.com | Aleksandr Orlov | January 2009-present | Voiced by Simon Greenall |
| Confused.com | 'Cara Confused' | 2009–2013 | |
| Direct Line | the Direct Line phone with wheels | 1985–present | in 2009 the Direct Line phone with wheels was given a voice by Stephen Fry and got an accomplice in the form of the Direct Line mouse with wheels, voiced by Paul Merton |
| Gocompare.com | Gio Compario | 2009–present | |
| Little Chef | 'Fat Charlie' | 1958–present | |
| Lombard Direct | the Lombard Direct phone | 1995–present | |
| Michelin | Bibendum (the Michelin Man) | 1898–present | |
| Milkybar | Milky Bar kid | 1961–present | the Milky Bar Kid is now computer generated and not an actual child |
| Nescafé Gold Blend | The Gold Blend couple | 1987–1996[1] | an episodic romance revolving around coffee, which spawned a 1993 novelization. Also used in Taster's Choice ad campaigns in the United States.[2] |
| Oxo | the Oxo family | 1983–1999 | |
| 118 118 | the 118 118 men | 2003–present | the 118 118 men became the 118 118 team in 2006 and was themed as an A team parody |
| Sheilas' Wheels | The Sheilas | 2007–present | Played by Emma Robbins, Carly Romain and Cathi Ogden. The trio would later become a pop group after the commercials took off and continued to perform in this capacity during their live appearances |
| Tayto | Mr. Tayto | 1954–Present | Irish crisp company |
| Tesco Stores Ltd | Tommy Tesco and Flynn the Frog | 2011–Present | Tommy is voiced by Stephen Mulhern |
| Tetley | the Tetley Tea Folk | 1973–2001, 2010–present | |
| Walkers | Dez, "The Number One Spice Girls Fan!" | 2019 | Forsakes himself (and embarrasses the entire United Kingdom on social media) for refusing to share his Walkers Crisp with the Spice Girls after winning a chance to tour with the act; his Mum shames him by leaving with the girls |
References
- ^ Elliott, Richard; Larry Percy (2007). "Love Over Gold - The untold story of TV's greatest romance". Strategic Brand Management. Oxford University Press. pp. 55–6. ISBN 0-19-926000-1.
- ^ James, Susannah (1993). Love over Gold. London: Corgi. ISBN 0-552-14104-6.