Comparethemarket could probably get away with it for the online meerkat campaign, but opted to back it with a traditional ad drive that makes the link for you.
The spoof site is a parody of the price-comparison site, all the way down to the mongoose logo replacing the pound signs of the original site. As Aleksandr Meerkat addresses you, it is clear this is essentially a cross between Borat and one of the great early viral concepts, RatherGood.com.
Comparethemeerkat's creature-comparison tool itself is clever, and the collage pictures of meerkats from around the world doing everything from 'Party Time' to 'wheel skating' are nicely done. It seems a miss not to have a send-to-a-friend mechanic on these, or a Top Trumps-style application, which would have had viral potential.
I guess the ploy worked - I would consider using the site to insure a car, but it will still be fighting for mindshare against its chief rival, which has ended up with a URL that has entered the nation's vernacular whenever we find ourselves confused.com.
Agency: VCCP.
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