Every once in a while there’s an ad campaign that gets it bang on the money. The latest effort from Harvey Nichols is quite possibly a stroke of promotional genius.

 

To promote its new store opening in Bristol, the shop for those with well-endowed wallets has chosen a pair of unlikely style icons to grace its poster campaign: Wallace and Gromit.

 

The poster campaign sees the cheese-loving inventor sporting an Alexander McQueen suit, D&G shirt and Armani tie, while his trusty canine sidekick struts his stuff in a Paul Smith scarf. It’s a far cry from the green tank top and brown trousers he usually sports, and the ultimate antithesis to the size-zero supermodels that are typically clad in Harvey Nichols' catwalk-led wares.

 

It's a story that’s been handed to every headline-tastic hack on a plate: Wallace is in the right trousers, and they have duly lapped up, thereby upping it’s advertising ante with a big wedge of free column inches to boot. 

 

It’s refreshing to see a big company being a little bit less predictable and a bit more entrepreneurial. Targeting those who like to splash their cash is arguably not the ideal brand positioning during the credit crunch, and the brand is clearly looking to show it's more human side and sense of humour. During times of uncertainty, consumers will be drawn towards brands they feel they can trust, and who better to suggest reliability than everyone's favourite plasticine hero? Smashing.