Wanted: Adventurous video game fans willing to change their identities. Must sign names, pay bills and otherwise identify themselves as dinosaur hunter called Turok.
Hoping to push back the frontiers of advertising, a British marketing firm said Monday it would pay ?500 (US$785) each to five people for the right to transform them into human billboards for a fantasy superhero.
Acclaim UK is seeking applicants who will legally change their names for one year to promote the latest installment of its video game series about Turok, a time-traveling American Indian who slays bionically enhanced dinosaurs.
The Institute of Science in Marketing, a business group supporting the effort, expects that its so-called Identity Marketing technique will catch on as the next big thing for companies eager to reach consumers dulled to the impact of conventional ads and clothes that bear product logos.
"It's not a gimmick, like they'll tell their mates down at the pub they're name is Turok. Every form of their identity will have to change for this to work," said Acclaim spokesman Andrew Bloch. "They'll be walking, talking, living, breathing advertisements."
Acclaim UK, whose parent company Acclaim Entertainment is based in Glen Cove, New York, is launching a Web site where would-be Turoks can apply. The firm expects thousands of people, male and female, to participate.
Acclaim UK will cover the legal costs each winner incurs in changing his or her name, to be done in a legally binding process called a deed poll. In addition, winners will received a computer game console, as many video games as they can play and a token sum of ?500, Bloch said.
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