Virgin Money approached us recently with the aim of doing something different. Recognising that advertising within the banking industry is filled with families having a great time and looking at ease, they decided to have a bit of fun with their branding. They came to us with a teddy bear.

This teddy bear, they specified, must be photographed in various muddles.

The thinking behind a campaign like this is solid enough. From drumming bunnies to meerkats, toy animal characters have a strong background in advertising as a simple means of standing out from the rest. But there's more to it than that. Over time, successful animal characters can develop their own personalities, allowing advertisers to create scenes and situations which would simply not be possible with other characters.

Take the image of our teddy struggling with a DVD player, for example, or finding his way into a washing machine. It's good, gentle humour, and it's an entertaining way of grabbing people's attention.

No teddies were harmed in the making of these ads...