Why the public are tearing their hair out over a wombat
By Jonathon Redden
In 2009, Compare the Market proved that all you need to win customers is a cute talking animal in a shirt and tie, by introducing Russian meerkat Aleksandr to their brand, who since then has become an icon in British advertising. His companion Sergei soon made his debut, followed by some baby meerkats, all proving to be a success, until Compare the Market decided it was time to freshen things up. Just over a year ago saw the introduction of Aleksandr’s nephew, a large Australian wombat who would be best described as clumsy and excitable but kind. His official name is Carl, however, he is now infamous enough to be known as simply “the wombat.”
My first viewing of the new character was with my parents, who complained that the character has ruined the once-enjoyable adverts. Out of curiosity, I later searched up “compare the market wombat” only to find an astonishing number of posts on social media lambasting the character and some even going as far as wishing death upon the poor creature. On Reddit, general responses included “I absolutely hated it”, “he can get in the bin” and “the modern version of Scrappy Doo”. On the official Facebook page, most posts by the company have received the same unavoidable anti-Carl comments, demanding for him to be scrapped. How do a pair of talking meerkats get a free pass for more than a decade but a cuddly, gentle wombat suddenly joins in and receives nothing less than rotten tomatoes thrown at him?
A real meerkat family on the lookout
Previously, the definition for “annoying advert” would be “man singing opera in your face until you buy their product”. However, this wombat instead chooses kindness, for example, making soup for his uncle – the worst he has done in his run so far is shrink clothes in the washing machine by accident. Perhaps audiences favoured the calmer tone of previous Meerkat adverts over the stupidity and chaos provided by this wombat that they are going to see in between programming over and over again. Several people online have also complained that it is no longer clear what the company is trying to advertise. This is true as the current campaign is noticeably centred on Carl, who has no shown relation to car insurance. One user ranted that “you can’t even escape it on the radio”, hinting that the advert is overplayed which adds to its “annoying” factor.
Compare the Market have not yet acknowledged Carl’s poor reception, so it is unclear of the wombat’s fate as it stands. However, it is clear that the new character has not received any praise or love it was intended to do (unless the intention was to annoy), but with a brand new advert featuring Carl which just released in December, Compare the Market are not ready to write off this campaign as a failure. Perhaps they just need to play their adverts a little less frequently or tone down Carl’s personality and the public could change their minds completely.
A real wombat in its habitat