Gromit, the silent companion of that goofy, but lovable, inventor Wallace in the Oscar-winning films by Aardman Animations, is filling in for Nipper, the familiar logo of British music store chain HMV (His Master’s Voice) as a promotion for children’s films on DVD at the store. The resulting image is a charmer. (The image will most likely not be used in the United States, as there is no HMV chain there and the Nipper logo is owned in the U.S. by RCA.) Aardman also recently signed a deal with Sony Pictures to distribute their films in the U.S. No word if Shaun the Sheep- the new series featuring the character originating in A Close Shave- will find a home in the U.S., but “Purple and Brown” shorts can be seen during commercial breaks on Nickelodeon.
For those interested, here’s a PDF file of the image.
As a longtime fan of Nick Park and Wallace and Gromit, I think that is a match made in marketing heaven. I wonder if there is anyway to obtain a poster of the image?
At the end of promotional campaigns, individual stores might give away their posters and such… I got a poster for a band I liked back in the mid-90’s just by asking at HMV if they had any left and if they’d sell it. They just gave it away instead!
I never knew what HMV stood for! Of course, I never asked either, but it’s still good to know! I don’t think I’ve ever seen “Nipper” used in Canada for advertising, but I have seen the RCA dogs, although that might have been on American TV. I’m not sure anymore. I have some CDs I want to buy in the next month or so… I should go see if they have that ad campaign!