Bowling for Cheese -- Chuck E. Cheese Mascot Gets Dated Redesign

Bowling for Cheese — Chuck E. Cheese Mascot Gets Dated Redesign

July 5, 2012 // 2:16 pm // By: Dominique Zamora

Is it too soon to revisit the 2000s? CEC Entertainment Inc., the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese, doesn’t seem to think so.

In an attempt to breathe some life back into its 35 year old franchise, CEC has transformed its mousy mascot into a tiny, CGI punk rocker, complete with faded jeans, red Chucks, and a sunburst gray electric guitar. And the best part? Ditching Duncan Brannan, who voiced the mouse for nearly two decades, this new version gets its pipes from none other than Bowling for Soup frontman Jaret Reddick, whose hit single “1985” was at the top of the charts only as far back as say, 2004.

(If I remember correctly, I think I was still in junior high.)

According to the Associated Press, “In May, CEC said revenue at its locations open at least a year fell 4.2 percent in the first quarter,” causing many to cite the revamp as the result of a sort of midlife crisis for the company. CEC and the Richards Group, who designed the ads, hope that this “hipper” new look will help draw in new masses of hyper, light-chasing, pizza-munching scamps to its over 500 locations worldwide.

Chuck (because let’s be honest, this pop-punk hood rat looks more like a “Chuck” now than your friendly neighborhood “Chuck E.”) isn’t the first childhood rodent to get a spiffy new redesign. Back in 2010, Disney Interactive released Epic Mickey, a Wii game featuring a darker, Steamboat Willie-esque Mickey Mouse, which later served as a major design feature in the revamp of its Anaheim theme park, California Adventure. The only difference really between the two is that Mickey’s new look was retro and cool, and this one just kind of . . . isn’t.

See for yourself in this video from the new campaign, launching today:

What do you guys think about Chuck E.’s new look? On a scale from no, to no no no no no?

Dominique ZamoraTwitterFacebook

Dominique would be a foodie if she had money to pay for food. For now, she gets by just looking at food photography, which results in at least one more starving journalism student every time Instagram breaks down.

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In this article: Chuck E Cheese • disney • mickey • Pizza • redesign

http://twitter.com/lcattay L. Catharine

Jared Reddick sings the incredibly popular “Phineas & Ferb” theme song, well-known to most kids and their parents. No doubt, CEC was trying to use voice recognition to get at it’s target demographic. So while BFS may be a dated band, Reddick is pretty popular (at least his voice is) among the under-10 crowd. My kids thought I was listening to P&F when they heard the commercial. CEC was probably hoping for that connection to be made. Or maybe I’m giving them too much credit.

That being said, this whole re-branding thing misses the mark entirely. Not only for the reasons stated (the “dated” semi-punk look) but because it doesn’t address the real problem with CEC. The food SUCKS. It’s expensive to take your family there, and with the economy the way it is, there is no value. (You can get the cheaper “prizes” from the dollar store instead of wasting money of tokens to get tickets.) It’s also hit-or-miss as to the cleanliness of each particular restaurant.

Let’s face it… kids see pizza and games, and they’re sold. They don’t give a rat’s behind (or a mouse’s) what the mascot looks like. If CEC really wants to change their image to be more appealing, offer better-tasting and healthier food, keep that play area sparkling clean, re-check their price points, and offer either better prizes or lower the ticket count to win one. Until then, we’ll be avoiding CEC, as we have for the past few years.
http://twitter.com/illneverusethis Phil

Let me tell you why their revenue fell by 4.2 percent in the first quarter. Because their pizza sucks, people are fkn nasty that crawl in those ball pits, and parents finally wised up and told their kids, “No, I’m not taking you and your friends to an AIDS infested disease pool to eat a $30 pizza made by some kid who just scratched his zits”. Plus the name is kinda gay. Hey where u at bro. Chuck E. Cheese. HA! GAIIIIIIIIIIIIY
Austyn

I’m pretty sure I won’t be eating at any restaurant where the commercial shows a rat dancing on the tables. If that’s what they brag about, what shame are they hiding? A dead health inspector in the freezer?