fbpx
Wikipedia

Frank and Gordon

January 01, 1970

Frank and Gordon (Jules et Bertrand in francophone media) are fictional beavers that were the focal point of Bell Canada's brand and marketing strategy from 2005 to 2008.

Frank and Gordon
Advertisement featuring the characters from 2008.
First appearance2005
Last appearance2008
In-universe information
SpeciesBeavers
OccupationActors for Bell Canada
NationalityCanadian

Originally introduced in late 2005 in Quebec, and February 2006 in the rest of Canada, to promote Bell's sponsorship of the 2010 Olympics, the anthropomorphic CGI beavers were voiced in English Canada by Norm Macdonald (Frank) and Ken Hudson Campbell (Gordon).[1][unreliable source?] Their misadventures with Frank getting flustered with the dimwitted Gordon made them two of the best known corporate mascots in Canada. The animated duo were created by Montreal-based Buzz Image for the Cossette advertising agency in Quebec City.

History edit

Early years edit

The early commercials showed Frank and Gordon on their journey to becoming Bell mascots; from waiting outside the audition room with other human and animal hopefuls, to the audition itself, and then the meeting with Bell management when they were informed that they had "got the gig" while Gordon eyed up a sandwich on the desk. This third commercial was also the first to be created in two forms, one for English Canada, and a separate version for Francophone Canada. The English version showed them in a dumpy-looking office with a tired-sounding (but unseen) male manager who presented them with maple-leaf tuques (tukes, or woolen hats) to enhance their Canadian patriotism in their upcoming Bell commercials to air during the 2006 Winter Olympics. The French version took place in a plush executive suite, with a sultry-sounding (but unseen) female manager, who did not present them with toques. The next few commercials followed a similar thread, with Frank and Gordon getting accustomed to their new-found fame, and a house full of Bell TV/cell phone/internet -aided items at their disposal while watching the 2006 Winter Olympics. However, in the English versions, they always had their maple-leaf tuques on, and appeared in somewhat rundown conditions with ratty furniture and empty beer cans littered around, while in the French versions, the toques were not seen, and their living room appeared opulent. In one commercial, Frank pauses the TV picture on the Bell digital video recorder in the middle of figure skating that Gordon is watching, and urges Gordon to groom as Gordon coughs up a hairball. In another, Gordon claims to be sick of seeing himself on TV, so Frank suggests he go out of the house and exercise to lose some of his newly gained weight. Gordon replies that the camera "adds 10 pounds".

Post-Torino 2006 edit

After the 2006 Winter Olympics, the English and French commercials became unified. Most of them merely advertised Bell products, and dropped the ongoing, engaging story-line between the two main characters. One exception is the Bring It Home (French: Ça se passera ici) campaign, which takes a brief look back at previous Frank and Gordon commercials before promoting Bell as a Vancouver 2010 official sponsor.

Campaign end edit

The beavers appeared in their final ad for Bell on August 1, 2008[2] – more than a year before the Vancouver Olympics the pair was purportedly created to promote. Bell had recently been taken over by a new management team (in connection to its then-pending, but later canceled, sale to a group led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan), and a spokesperson for the company said that ending the Frank and Gordon campaign (and the introduction of a new Bell logo and ad campaign later that week) was symbolic of that change.

Commercials edit

Mobility

Sympatico

  • Megaphone
  • Smooth Operator
  • Traffic

ExpressVu

Miscellaneous


Parodies edit

Rock et Belles Oreilles edit

Frank and Gordon were parodied in French skits by Rock et Belles Oreilles' "Bye Bye 2006" show. They were featured on Télévision de Radio-Canada Two characters named Jim and Bertrand work as rats for Bill Canada.[3]

One skit featured Bertrand who was fired because Bill outsourced their calling centres to India. Bertrand, trying to wash windshields on the street, gets squashed by a car. The parody commercial ends with the message: "écrasez les syndicats avec Bill Canada", which translates to "squash trade unions with Bill Canada". The skit is based on two controversial events: the Bell Subco strike of 2005, and the outsourcing of Bell Canada's phone-based customer service to foreign countries such as India.

Another skit featured a parody of Frank and Gordon's infamous Megaphone commercial.

Videotron edit

To promote its Internet services, Videotron parodied the Frank & Gordon campaign with a commercial. It consists of the Videotron Man promoting its internet services that videotron has the best internet which then shows the man in a wood logging competition competing against a beaver, likely representing Bell Canada, in a wood logging competition against a man wearing a Videotron-branded helmet. While the beaver could only cut the log using its teeth, the Videotron man could use various wood cutting equipment such as a two-man saw or a chainsaw to represent different speed tiers. This allowed the man to cut out six different pieces of wood from the log. At the end of the commercial, the beaver is still cutting the log with his teeth, and has not finished cutting out a single piece of the log yet.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ "A Day in the Life as a Voice Actor in 2020 | Voices". 18 September 2020. . Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2007-10-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) source
  2. ^ "Bell's beavers bite it | CBC News".
  3. ^ . Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  4. ^ "Pub Videotron". 4 February 2007.

External links edit

  • Bell Canada
  • Buzz Image - many of the commercials can still be seen here by clicking on "3D animation"
  • DigitalMediaNet - early press from 2006 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine

January 01, 1970
frank, gordon, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, august, 2022. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Frank and Gordon news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this message Frank and Gordon Jules et Bertrand in francophone media are fictional beavers that were the focal point of Bell Canada s brand and marketing strategy from 2005 to 2008 Frank and GordonAdvertisement featuring the characters from 2008 First appearance2005Last appearance2008In universe informationSpeciesBeaversOccupationActors for Bell CanadaNationalityCanadian Originally introduced in late 2005 in Quebec and February 2006 in the rest of Canada to promote Bell s sponsorship of the 2010 Olympics the anthropomorphic CGI beavers were voiced in English Canada by Norm Macdonald Frank and Ken Hudson Campbell Gordon 1 unreliable source Their misadventures with Frank getting flustered with the dimwitted Gordon made them two of the best known corporate mascots in Canada The animated duo were created by Montreal based Buzz Image for the Cossette advertising agency in Quebec City Contents 1 History 1 1 Early years 1 2 Post Torino 2006 1 3 Campaign end 2 Commercials 3 Parodies 3 1 Rock et Belles Oreilles 3 2 Videotron 4 References 5 External linksHistory editEarly years edit The early commercials showed Frank and Gordon on their journey to becoming Bell mascots from waiting outside the audition room with other human and animal hopefuls to the audition itself and then the meeting with Bell management when they were informed that they had got the gig while Gordon eyed up a sandwich on the desk This third commercial was also the first to be created in two forms one for English Canada and a separate version for Francophone Canada The English version showed them in a dumpy looking office with a tired sounding but unseen male manager who presented them with maple leaf tuques tukes or woolen hats to enhance their Canadian patriotism in their upcoming Bell commercials to air during the 2006 Winter Olympics The French version took place in a plush executive suite with a sultry sounding but unseen female manager who did not present them with toques The next few commercials followed a similar thread with Frank and Gordon getting accustomed to their new found fame and a house full of Bell TV cell phone internet aided items at their disposal while watching the 2006 Winter Olympics However in the English versions they always had their maple leaf tuques on and appeared in somewhat rundown conditions with ratty furniture and empty beer cans littered around while in the French versions the toques were not seen and their living room appeared opulent In one commercial Frank pauses the TV picture on the Bell digital video recorder in the middle of figure skating that Gordon is watching and urges Gordon to groom as Gordon coughs up a hairball In another Gordon claims to be sick of seeing himself on TV so Frank suggests he go out of the house and exercise to lose some of his newly gained weight Gordon replies that the camera adds 10 pounds Post Torino 2006 edit After the 2006 Winter Olympics the English and French commercials became unified Most of them merely advertised Bell products and dropped the ongoing engaging story line between the two main characters One exception is the Bring It Home French Ca se passera ici campaign which takes a brief look back at previous Frank and Gordon commercials before promoting Bell as a Vancouver 2010 official sponsor Campaign end edit The beavers appeared in their final ad for Bell on August 1 2008 2 more than a year before the Vancouver Olympics the pair was purportedly created to promote Bell had recently been taken over by a new management team in connection to its then pending but later canceled sale to a group led by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and a spokesperson for the company said that ending the Frank and Gordon campaign and the introduction of a new Bell logo and ad campaign later that week was symbolic of that change Commercials editMobility Get It to Go Limousine Hockey gaming Hockey playoff beards Lil Frank 1987 Nintendo Sixty FOOOOOOOOOOUR parody Revolving Doors Spider Man 3 Letterman parody Victories Torino 2006 mobile video service Sympatico Megaphone Smooth Operator Traffic ExpressVu Explosions Big Shots and Desperate Housewives on CTV and A Channel Hot Doctor Grey s Anatomy and ER on CTV Jelly Beans Miscellaneous Bring It Home French Ca se passera ici Vancouver 2010 promo What s More Canadian song This list is incomplete you can help by adding missing items February 2020 Parodies editRock et Belles Oreilles edit Frank and Gordon were parodied in French skits by Rock et Belles Oreilles Bye Bye 2006 show They were featured on Television de Radio Canada Two characters named Jim and Bertrand work as rats for Bill Canada 3 One skit featured Bertrand who was fired because Bill outsourced their calling centres to India Bertrand trying to wash windshields on the street gets squashed by a car The parody commercial ends with the message ecrasez les syndicats avec Bill Canada which translates to squash trade unions with Bill Canada The skit is based on two controversial events the Bell Subco strike of 2005 and the outsourcing of Bell Canada s phone based customer service to foreign countries such as India Another skit featured a parody of Frank and Gordon s infamous Megaphone commercial Videotron edit To promote its Internet services Videotron parodied the Frank amp Gordon campaign with a commercial It consists of the Videotron Man promoting its internet services that videotron has the best internet which then shows the man in a wood logging competition competing against a beaver likely representing Bell Canada in a wood logging competition against a man wearing a Videotron branded helmet While the beaver could only cut the log using its teeth the Videotron man could use various wood cutting equipment such as a two man saw or a chainsaw to represent different speed tiers This allowed the man to cut out six different pieces of wood from the log At the end of the commercial the beaver is still cutting the log with his teeth and has not finished cutting out a single piece of the log yet 4 References edit A Day in the Life as a Voice Actor in 2020 Voices 18 September 2020 Archived copy Archived from the original on 2011 07 17 Retrieved 2007 10 11 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link source Bell s beavers bite it CBC News Bye Bye 2006 Archived from the original on 2011 10 01 Retrieved 2011 06 27 Pub Videotron 4 February 2007 External links editBell Canada Buzz Image many of the commercials can still be seen here by clicking on 3D animation DigitalMediaNet early press from 2006 Archived 2011 07 10 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Frank and Gordon amp oldid 1163426964, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.