Monkey and Emily Atack

PG Tips Brings Back Monkey and This Time He's Married To Emily Atack

The pair have begun their own reality show ‘At Home with Monkey’, sponsored by PG Tips.

By Creative Salon

MonkeyPG Tips’ iconic mascot, is back to launch a new creative platform, ‘Live life one tea at a time’, for the UK’s most popular tea brand. The work has been created by NCA, part of Ogilvy Group UK, and will be supported by a campaign spend of £8m. This is the first campaign since New Commercial Arts was appointed as PG Tips’ creative agency of record in January and also stars national favourite comic actress Emily Atack, who plays Monkey’s wife, Alice, also known as Mrs M. 

In a continuation of his successful media career, Monkey now has a reality show documenting the ups and downs of his daily life (sponsored, of course, by PG Tips). Viewers are invited into Monkey and Alice’s home where they live with their two children, Earl and Chai, as they banter, bicker and - most importantly - brew their way through the day, living life one tea at a time.

In true-to-form reality TV style, the film and social campaign includes behind-the-scenes moments, photoshoots and even nods to memorable moments of recent pop culture. 

Social media and consumer PR activations were created by The Romans, including bespoke teasers and parodies of social trends, such as Vogue’s My Life in Looks and reality TV confessionals.

The film was directed by Si & Ad and produced by Academy.

Media planning and buying was handled by PHD. 

The campaign breaks in social and YouTube at 9am on 7th May and goes live nationwide across TV and VOD from 9th May. OOH shot in the style of classic reality TV promos, with the wordplay ‘Steaming Now’, is accompanied by limited edition Monkey pack and shopper activations.

Elle Barker, CMO, Lipton Teas: “From the very first conversation we had with NCA, we knew they truly got the heart of the brand and the ambition behind the brief. I'm incredibly proud of the work we've created together — it's bold, funny and absolutely captures the chaos of family life and the role that tea plays for so many British families. ‘Live life one tea at a time’ puts Monkey and the brand back in the spotlight and kicks off a brand new chapter for PG Tips.”

Dan Seager & Steve Hall, Executive Creative Directors, New Commercial Arts: “It’s been an absolute joy to work with the team at PG Tips. We were eager to create a campaign that did justice to such an iconic, fabric-of-the-nation brand and brought to life the fact that, whatever life throws at you, nothing beats a good cup of PG.  And no one knows that better than Monkey. The nation has clearly missed him and persuading him to come back into the limelight has been a career high.”

We asked Monkey for a quote, but he was busy making a cuppa for Alice...

CREDITS

PG Tips 

Elle Barker – CMO, UK & Ireland 

Heidi Williams – Head of Communications & Partnerships 

Nathan Higgins – Social, Influencer & PR Manager

Kirsten Battle – Assistant Brand Manager

New Commercial Arts 

Hannah White - CEO

Dan Seager & Steve Hall - ECDs

Alicia Job and Jess Pacey - Creatives

Matt Walters – CSO 

Georgia Dickinson – Head of Production

Russell Taylor – Senior Producer

Miriam Goode – Business Director

Gaëlle Rolland – Account Manager

Olivia Rose – Account Director 

Tom Lockwood – Creative Content Lead

Film Production

Production Company: Academy Films

Director: Si & Ad

Producer: Tom Cartwright

DOP: Alex Barber

Puppeteers: Nigel Plaskitt, Susan Beatie, Paul Jomain

Edit: Adam Spivey @ Assembly Rooms

Edit Producer: Phoebe Armstrong-Beaver

Postproduction: Selected Works

VFX: Jonathan Westley (Wes)

Postproduction Producer: Noa Vuagniaux

Audio: Jake Ashwell @ 750 MPH

Audio Producer: Aishah Amodu

Music: Audio Network

Stills Production

Nick Eagle – Photographer

King Henry – Retouch & Design

Automated Creative

Amy Wright - Global Head of Strategy 

Danielle Sims - Business Director 

Giacomo Cisternino - Senior Client Lead 

PHD 

Andrew Chandler – Media Director 

James Walton – Senior Planning Director

Rachel Sharrow – Planning Associate Director 

Megan Conneely – Strategy Director

The Romans 

Tom Phillips – PR Account Manager 

Holly Dunnett – Senior PR & Communications Consultant 

Sophie Baker - Director

Niall Massingham – Digital Account Manager 

Sam Morgan-Smith – Head of Social

David Levesley – Social Editor & Copywriter

Scarlet Pughe – Creative 

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