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Lowe Lintas is following up its "belly" commercial for Reebok with

new 60- and 40-second spots entitled "Escape the sofa". They break on 15

September.

In one commercial, a twenty-something urbanite lounges in front of the

TV. He switches off the set and attempts to grab his kit bag, but as he

does so, the seemingly innocuous sofa springs to life. It swallows him

in a bear hug as though trying to suck him in.

The man repeatedly struggles to grab his Reebok kit bag and escape to

the gym, but the sofa determinedly pursues him to the door. The man is

very nearly caught as the sofa hurls itself down the stairs in pursuit,

but it wedges itself in the door frame and the athlete narrowly manages

to flee, kit bag in hand.

The ad ends with the strapline: "Escape the sofa. Reebok."

A completely unbranded ten-second teaser will run before the main

film.

Consumers will see a close-up of a sofa appearing to be breathing

heavily and will then be asked: "Are you sitting comfortably?"

The ads, which will run on TV and in the cinema, were written and art

directed by Vince Squibb and Tony Barry. Frank Budgen directed through

Gorgeous.

The sofa was created by Asylum and brought to life by a team of

puppeteers.

Media is being handled by Initiative Media.

Reebok launched the "belly" spot last November as part of a £4

million television and cinema campaign. Together with a second spot,

which showed a woman outrunning her problems, it marked a move away from

the usual aspirational images used by other sports brands.

Lowe Lintas' managing director, Jeremy Bowles, said: "Like 'belly', this

film continues to differentiate Reebok by focusing on the real and

everyday reasons that motivate people to participate in sport."