Mortein ambassador Louie the Fly has started a social media campaign to help him become immortalised in Sydney's Madame Tussauds.
The company recently asked Madame Tussauds to build a waxwork of its iconic mascot, but was rejected because it didn't believe he was among its "most requested characters", according to The Daily Telegraph.
Mortein has now embarked on a Facebook campaign in a bid to turn its fortunes, asking fans to show their support for the figure via a petition page. It said: "[Louie the Fly] has been an Aussie icon for over 50 years [...] so it's high time I pestered Madame Tussauds to craft a life-sized wax figure of me, lord of the flies."
The text said Louie was aiming to be
"the smallest wax figure in Madame Tussauds’ history" and
he needed "as many backers as possible to help get those Da
Vinci types at Madame Tussauds to listen". The company has also uploaded an image of the
Fly with the caption "Piece of filth? More like piece of art!". The petition
currently has over 440 attendees, with the link to it on Louie's Facebook page
gathering over 800.
It has been led by PR firm Red Agency, and will be supported by travelling street activations to encourage consumers to support the campaign's cause. Red Agency has also commissioned a 5-inch waxwork of Louie which will feature as part of the travelling campaign.
Louie the Fly, which was originally created in 1957 by cartoonist Geoff Morgan, has been the brand's long-term ambassador and is currently handled by local agency Havas. Louie was "saved" in 2011 following a campaign asking the public whether or not he should be killed off, which was seen as PR stunt by many in the industry.
Madame Tussauds was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.
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