Examine the Market is to assessment its promoting marketing campaign depicting an animated Russian meerkat to make sure it’s not performed round information bulletins reporting on the Ukraine battle.
The value comparability web site insisted it could not droop the marketing campaign however that it was inspecting its advertising and marketing and can be “delicate” to when it performs the adverts, which characteristic a Russian meerkat named Aleksandr Orlov.
The character has been described as a billionaire from Moscow who lives in a South London mansion.
A spokesman for Examine the Market stated: “The meerkats are fictional characters and never related to Russia and the present state of affairs. However we’re our advertising and marketing to verify we’re being delicate and it would not present up in inappropriate locations.”
Examine the Market launched the marketing campaign that includes the meerkat, whose catchphrase is “simples”, in 2009. The advert has been credited with boosting the corporate’s fortunes, with visits to its web site hovering by 80pc to three.6m within the six months following its launch.
The character even spawned a so-called autobiography, “A Simples Life: The Life and Occasions of Aleksandr Orlov”, and a cuddly toy which was despatched to clients who purchased insurance coverage by means of the web site till 2018.
A number of corporations have come beneath stress to regulate their promoting and branding following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
British supermarkets got here beneath stress from customers on social media final week to rename hen kievs to the Ukrainian spelling of “hen kyivs” as a present of solidarity with the nation.
In the meantime American restaurant chain Applebees was compelled to apologise and pull its adverts from tv final week after a light-hearted advert promoted its menu throughout information protection of the invasion.