What do you do when, say, you have a highly anticipated third "Toy Story" film coming out on June 18 and you want to incorporate a "classic" toy that's never actually been released? If you're Pixar, you create a fake 1980s era television commercial -- and even include custom VHS cassette tape distortions. Remember Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear? No? Well, that's because it never existed, until now. But judging from this commercial posted on YouTube, it would seem to be a childhood favorite. Watch the ad below: [youtube]z6dZtNYGlLM[/youtube] Pretty convincing stuff: The distorted sound, the flickering video, the noise on the bottom of the screen -- all tell-tale signs of an old commercial uploaded to YouTube from a long-lost VHS tape that was probably recording an episode of "Shirt Tales." The understated 80s fashion is also worth a mention because overdoing it would have been a dead giveaway. Why? Because people who would buy a Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear for their children are normal people. Not break dancers or Wall Street tycoons with oversize cell phones. These people wear pearls and send their kids off to school with their Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear lunchbox (though, if you look close enough, one kid is wearing suspenders with a skinny tie). So what would this be called? Reverse viral marketing? Pixar's campaign is a unique way to introduce a new character -- Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear, voiced by Ned Beatty in "Toy Story 3" -- to an established franchise. Hopefully there aren't too many angry phone calls from jilted thirty-somethings to their parents this week, wondering why they never got a Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear for their birthday. [youtube]v_FfHA5whXc[/youtube] link: http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-toy-story-3-features-toy-you-never-had-as-a-child.html
