The Boston Bruins are bringing back the Bear, but in an old-fashioned, animated form drawn by one of the illustrators behind the “TV Funhouse” sketches of “Saturday Night Live.”
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The Bear moves from costumed character to cartoon.
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The Bear debuted as a costumed character for the Bruins in 2009 and was an immediate cult favorite, starring in a series of “Bruins Hockey Rules” digital shorts that saw the character fighting against hockey fan faux pas, such as leaving games early or talking on cellphones during games. Two years ago, the Bear was featured in an ad campaign dubbed “The Bear & the Gang,” with a series of ’80s
sitcom-stylized spots showing the Bear and his “friends” hanging out in the bowels of TD Garden. That effort included players, coaches, Bruins national anthem singer Rene Rancourt and the team’s popular announcer, Jack Edwards.
Now, the Bear is entering the world of animation, with the Bruins developing a ’70s-style cartoon along the lines of “Scooby Doo” for a new campaign.
“We’ve always been trying to evolve the Bear, as it’s sort of been at that tilt where advertising and fun, shareable content met,” said Chris DiPierro, Boston’s director of marketing. “What we’re constantly trying to do with him is push the envelope and give something to our fans that they can engage with.”
The team worked with Greg Almeida and Travis Robertson from advertising firm Arnold Worldwide on the latest project, which keeps the name “The Bear & the Gang.” Almeida helped create the Bear character originally, and both helped create the earlier, ’80s-styled series.
J.J. Sedelmaier, one of the co-creators of the “TV Funhouse” series for “SNL,” was brought on to illustrate the cartoon.
“A lot of sports advertising falls in sort of the same pattern, and in creating the Bear, we wanted to do something with the Bruins that broke the mold,” Almeida said. “Now moving into the world of animation, we’re opening up a ton of possibilities, not only from a storytelling perspective, but from a comedic angle as well.”
The new spots will live predominantly online. Six shorts of about 60 seconds each are planned. They’ll also be shown during games on the arena’s video board.
In addition, they’ll be shown during Boston’s new monthly youth-focused TV series, “Bruins Academy,” that will air on NESN starting Sunday. The show will be available on the Bruins’ website, as well.
“We’ve done quite a bit of brand evaluation and research this summer, and two things really stood out,” DiPierro said. “One, our fans are really into comedy; it’s one of the highest forms of non-Bruins content they enjoy. Two, our fans are a lot younger, and we have more families that identify as Bruins fans than we’ve ever had.”
The additional exposure for the Bear will lead to opportunities on the merchandising front. DiPierro said the team has put together its first stuffed Bear prototype and anticipates it going on sale this week.
DiPierro also noted the cartoon is not presently sponsored.
