Forget the treatment of Taleban prisoners in Camp X-Ray. What's
really been tugging at Mix's heart strings is the fate of the PG Tip
chimps, now they've been dropped from the ads.
Advertising can be a cruel game and Mix has been busy comparing the
chimps' plight to other models deemed by advertisers to be past their
sell-by date.
We thought of Lancome and Isabella Rossellini, Revlon and Cindy
Crawford, Estee Lauder and Liz Hurley. But these examples pale into
insignificance compared with the indignity of being replaced by
plasticine birds.
For chimps Kevin, Shirley, Samantha and Geoff have been supplanted by
Aardman-created characters; Maggie (a London pigeon), Tom (an Irish
owl), Peter (a Geordie starling and Holly (a Northern blue tit).
How do you recover from that kind of snub? What counselling is
available?
Is there a suitable pension scheme? Before tea drinkers everywhere take
to the streets, Mix is pleased to report that all this angst has been in
vain.
According to PG Tips, the chimps have not been axed. A spokeswoman for
Unilever Bestfoods said: " The chimps have not retired. We're just using
another campaign, which we do from time to time. The chimps are the
biggest icon of the brand and they will be returning."
The spokeswoman revealed that far from sulking with their tails between
their legs, Kevin, Shirley, Samantha and Geoff "are fully employed in
the film industry" and are currently shooting on location in
California.
Mix, for one will be calling for the full red carpet and limo treatment
on their return.
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