Yahoo! unveils plans for Warren’s penultimate appearance
LONDON, 17th December 2001. - Warren the Gerbil, the star of Yahoo! UK & Ireland’s Channel 5 movie sponsorship campaign, is to appear in his very own nativity play, to be televised this Christmas. Produced by HHCL & Partners, this penultimate TV outing for Warrenwill run every day this week, costarring three wise men, the Virgin Mary, baby Jesus and some farm animals. Warren will play a cow.
‘Talking to my friends at the union, it became very clear to me that my industry colleagues were promised appearances in Christmas Specials. I expressed my desire to the producer for some Yuletide action and I’m very happy to say that I’ll be joining the stars of Only Fools and Horses, Eastenders and Her Majesty The Queen on-screen this festive season,” commented the gerbil.
Yahoo!’s 2001 sponsorship of Channel 5’s blockbuster movie slot is coming to an end, and with it we will see the last of Warren the Gerbil’s showbiz career His appearance alongside the movies has provided a Big Brother style look at Warren’s movements over the last year and has come to represent the cornerstone of Channel 5’s schedule, attracting audiences of up to 5.4 million.
Over the past twelve months, Warren has served Yahoo! well. A recent brand track shows that 54% of Channel 5 viewers are familiar with Yahoo!’s Warren, with 17% spontaneously recalling Yahoo! as the sponsor. Warren has also been used to promote a variety of Yahoo! products, including; Greetings, Invites, Photos, Finance, Sports, Travel, Music, mail, Horoscopes and TV.
Warren’s story:
Warren’s rise to meteoric superstardom has been eventful. His story begins in February 2001, Manchester. Born the youngest member of a litter of three Mongolian gerbils, for his first few weeks Warren consumed nothing but his mother’s milk, a staggering two and a half litres in total. Following a pole which received hundreds of thousands of votes, the furry star received his name. Little did he know at that stage that he would go on to achieve so many ‘firsts’ for gerbilkind – first gerbil courtship, first gerbil DJ and first gerbil to use a calculator.
Like many of today’s megastars, as Warren grew in age, so did his weight – from a slender 11.5 grammes at four weeks old to his current mass of 83 grammes. However, Warren attributes this weight gain to ‘muscle development’ due to his regular exercise on his plastic wheel. Warren’s computerized wheelometer shows that he has traveled 171 kilometers in his wheel (the equivalent of running from Stockport to Darlington). There is evidence to support the contrary…Warren is capable of shredding a cardboard toilet roll in less than five minutes and reportedly ate his plastic house, which had to be replaced mid-year.
With a fan base grown from Yahoo’s 2nd biggest club, false rumours of Warren’s death prompted hundreds of concerned e-mails flooding into Yahoo!’s headquarters. Unsurprisingly, this popularity occasionally had its effect on Warren who was quick to adopt a rock ‘n’ lifestyle. He was filmed mating with an as-yet-unnamed female gerbil, but due to their graphic nature, the scenes were cut at the last minute and never made it to television.
So what’s next for Warren? After a long and successful television career (900 idents totaling two hours of film over the past 12 months), Warren has decided to pursue other off-screen interests. Rumours are already circulating within the rodent world that a competition will take place in the New Year for schools across the country to win custody of the retired star. Watch this space…
At Warren’s request, his website www.gerbilz.com will remain online as a tribute to him and his many fans.
Yahoo! would like to stress that a Gerbil is for life, not just for Christmas.
About Yahoo! UK & Ireland:
Yahoo! UK & Ireland provides commerce, communication and media services to meet the needs of local consumers. This includes world leading communication services such as Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Mobile; community products such as Yahoo! Clubs and Yahoo! Geocities; rich content such as Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Sport, Yahoo! Music and commerce services such as Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions.
Yahoo.co.uk is one of the most popular and most visited websites in the UK & Ireland, generating over 635 million page views in September 2001 (ABC Electronics).
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! UK & Ireland is part of Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet communications, commerce and media company that offers a comprehensive branded network of services to more than 218 million individuals each month worldwide. As the first online navigational guide to the Web, www.yahoo.com is the leading guide in terms of traffic, advertising, household and business user reach. Yahoo! is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and reaches the largest audience worldwide. The company also provides online business and enterprise services designed to enhance the productivity and Web presence of Yahoo!’s clients. These services include Corporate Yahoo!, a popular customized enterprise portal solution; audio and video streaming; store hosting and management; and Web site tools and services. The company’s global Web network includes 24 World properties. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo! has offices in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australia, Canada and the United States.
Yahoo!, Corporate Yahoo!, and the Yahoo! logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of
Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Additional Info:
- Idea developed by Andy Lockley and James Gillham at HHCL & Partners
- Directed by Justin Anderson at HHCL & Partners
- Produced in house at HHCL & Partners
Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logo are registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc.
All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Media Contacts:
Phil Pendaries, Fleishman-Hillard, +44 (0)20 7395 7054, pendarip@fleishman.com
Georga Douglas, Yahoo! UK and Ireland PR Manager, Direct Line: +44 207808 4592, gdouglas@uk.yahoo-inc.com | 