Virgin Media to run Speedy Gonzales ads

The "Fastest mouse in all Mexico" follows the Looney Toons character as he makes his way to the UK for his Virgin Media advertising debut.

Created by DDB, the ad draws upon Speedy's pace and personality to highlight some of the benefits of "Super Speedy Broadband" from the cable provider.

The first TV ad follows Speedy as he starts his new job only to find his employers have some very peculiar ideas of how to use him, but is convinced to take their ideas on board with a seemingly endless supply of cheese.

Ashley Stockwell, executive director of brand and marketing at Virgin Media said: "Speedy is the perfect celebrity partner and brings real charm and enthusiasm to our campaign. [He] is a great short cut in communicating all the stand-out benefits of superfast broadband and will help us stay several steps ahead of the competition."

To kick off the ad campaign, Virgin Media has unveiled the world's first billboard made entirely of cheese in Covent Garden, London.

Created by acclaimed food artist, Prudence Staite, it uses 10 types of locally sourced cheese. Weighing in at 110kg the giant cheese sculpture took Prudence and her team eight days to craft, spending over 100 hours in a chilled studio to preserve the artwork.

The TV ads are part of a multi-million pound media push planned and bought by Omnicom agency Manning Gottlieb OMD, which will include two further television ads including promotion across London Underground stations, through social media channels including Facebook and Twitter, plus print and radio to make the most of Speedy's unique voice.

The campaign is the first fully integrated Virgin Media campaign from DDB UK, which was awarded Virgin Media’s advertising, direct and digital account earlier this year.

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk