Mario marketing blitz revealed

To mark Mario’s silver anniversary Nintendo is launching a wide-reaching marketing campaign featuring a mix of celebrities.

The campaign kicked off on August 9th with a series of fans’ favourite Mario experiences, and explodes today with an epic 90-second TV ad which will be shown during Coronation Street. Stars making an appearance include Jonathan Ross, Ant and Dec, Diversity and Patrick Moore.

This will be backed up by 30-second, 60-second and 90-second TV ads running for a further three weeks, while a 60-second spot will be shown in cinemas across the UK and be seen by around 1.7m movie goers.

Nintendo is also encouraging gamers to get involved and play Mario games at 19 live dates running until September 19th. This offers players 106,400 trials at six different locations nationwide.

25 years ago today the industry’s favourite Italian plumber first made his mark in Japan with the release of Super Mario Bros. Since then Mario has gone on to become gaming’s most successful and acclaimed franchise.

So many people have grown up with the Super Mario Bros series,” Nintendo product manager Zoe Cooper told MCV.

It is great that Nintendo’s activity can play a part in helping everyone remember and celebrate their favourite Super Mario Bros moments.”

A huge range of special 25th anniversary POS will also be available to retailers, all stressing the tagline ‘Part of the family since 1985′. There will also be a wide range of PR action taking place today, with editorial takeovers and special features running across several specialist websites and magazines.