Hasbro Licenses GI Joe/Action Man Toys For Epic Village People-Style TV Ad

Advertisements for Money Supermarket are becoming well known for not having anything to do with the services that the company offers. The theme behind the ads are that you will feel epic when you save money. Previous ads have included a man in hot pants strutting down the street before meeting Sharon Osborne and He-Man and Skeletor performing the iconic Dirty Dancing dance. For their latest advert they have licensed one of Hasbro’s most famous action figure Action Man, the British version of GI Joe.

The promo features Action Man telling base command that he feels epic because he has saved money with Money Supermarket. He then proceeds to break into a dance routine to Finally by CeCe Peniston. Throughout the advert he is joined by other Action Men until they are all dancing together in the style of the Village People complete with various costumes such as a sailor, a cricketer and a deep sea diver.

There have been questions about whether Action Man is gay since the toy was first released. There has never been any official comment on this which is why so many people are surprised that Hasbro has allowed the figure to be used in this way, particularly because it is for another brand. Opinions about the advert seems to be split into two clear factions, those that love the fact that Action Man is so camp and those that don’t.

The people that don’t like the adverts have concerns about the way that Action Man is portrayed as gay as some sort of punchline. They question whether in this day and age the fact that he is so camp should be funny or whether it is just normal. However, there are others that love the campness of the advert, the reference to the Village People and the fact that above all the advert is just fun. People like remembering the fun that they had when they were young playing with toys such as He-Man and Action Man and it is this generation that will now be concerned with things such as how much money they can save on their car insurance and whether they are getting the best rates on their savings.

Money Supermarket have been working with ad agency Mother for the past seven years and they have been responsible for all of the ‘feeling epic’ ads. However, it has recently been announced that the two companies are due to part ways and so these ads will come to an end at some point. Neither side have confirmed whether this new ad will be the last so there may still be more to come yet.

Even though the advert has split opinion, it has still got a lot of people talking about it as was the case with the previous adverts. Some people have found it more entertaining than the program that they were watching. Although Action Man does not really have any connection to comparing financial products, people definitely remember who the ad is for and it is a technique that seems to be working for Money Supermarket.