Det er ikke bare den amerikanske afdeling af Acclaim, der har haft held med at lave “menneskereklamer” for deres spil Turok. Firmaets britiske afdeling har netop udsendt en pressemeddelelse, hvoraf man kan erfare, at hele fem britiske statsborgere, nu går under navnet Turok. I fagsproget kaldes denne type reklame for “Identity Marketing” efter Dr Simeon Cantrell fra det engelske Institute of Science in Marketing. Acclaim har endda oprettet et særligt website for alle der nu brænder for at hedde Turok. Førnævnte Dr. Cantrell regner med at op imod 10.000 personer i løbet af de næste fem år allerede vil blive Turok’ere. De fem har hver modtaget en XBox og et par spil for deres lille “gestus”.

The UK’s first human adverts are unveiled


Marketing pioneers change their identities in new advertising initiative




Five people who have changed their names by deed poll to that of a character in
a video game in a unique marketing initiative have been revealed today. The
five, comprising men and women, have all changed their identities to Turok, the
hero character of a new game Turok Evolution being released by Acclaim
Entertainment for PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube on
September 6th.



The new Turoks have completed the legal formalities and instead of being known
as Ross Davison, Paul Frederick Codling, Matthew Grist, Andrew Ian Boughflower
and Lheila Rebeccah Oberman, will simply be called Turok. Everything from their
passports to their telephone bills will now carry their new identities.



The idea behind Identity Marketing, which emanates from Dr Simeon Cantrell of
the Institute of Science in Marketing, is that in the same way as a company
might buy a television commercial, a billboard poster or a radio spot, they can
now buy human identities. Acclaim UK has been the first company to embark on
this cutting edge marketing route.



Proving the fact that Dr Cantrell believes that this type of marketing will
become commonplace within the next 5 years, over 10,000 people applied to
change their names to Turok through the website set up by Acclaim at
www.mynameisturok.com
.




Shaun White, Acclaim’s UK Communications Manager said: “The five Turoks will no
doubt speak to and meet tens of thousands of people between them over the next
year and will be walking talking adverts for the Turok video game. We think
this type of advertising is sure to take off and will prove to be a big hit for
both Acclaim UK and Turok Evolution.”



The five pioneers of Identity Marketing are each being paid £500 and will
receive an Xbox and copies of the new Turok game for their troubles. They are
free to change their names back to their original names after one year if they
wish to.



About the new Turoks:









































Previous name Age From Job
Paul Frederick Colding 28 Norwich Martial Arts Instructor
Lheila Rebeccah Oberman 30 Hornchurch Midwife
Ross Davidson 18 Whitechapel Trainee Graphic Designer
Matthew Grist 27 New Southgate Dental Technician
Andy Ian Boughflower 34 Highbury Unemployed





About Turok:Evolution



Turok : Evolution will be available for the PlayStation®2 computer
entertainment system, Xbox video game system from Microsoft and Nintendo
GameCube on September 6th 2002.




Turok : Evolution is a prequel to the epic games that have made dinosaurs an
almost real-life experience. Playing as the original dinosaur hunter ‘Tal’set’,
gamers will be faced with treachery, reptile armies, towering dinosaurs and
all-out war in jaw-dropping environments such as dense jungles, baron
industrial wasteland and soaring mountain vistas. Gamers are immersed in
living, breathing locations swarming with live and hidden dangers.