The Return of Maxell's 'Blow-Away Guy'

Maxell will bring back its memorable “blow-away guy” image as part of an integrated marketing campaign. The effort includes an online game that aims to show how music has changed over the years since the campaign first launched in 1979…

The campaign, developed by Manhattan Marketing Ensemble, will include an online ad buy and a game based on the original creative on the Maxell site. The game will span the three decades of music; the lifetime of the campaign. With an interactive element, the game will flow from rock-and-roll to disco to hair bands; new wave to grunge to boy bands among other popular music genres.

“The game will fully integrate the ‘blow-away guy’ in what we think is a meaningful way,” Manhattan Marketing Ensemble senior partner Maury Maniff told ClickZ News. “We are trying to integrate the way Maxell has worked with music over the decades.”

Online components are set to go live after the first of the year. Manhattan Media Partners confirmed that a separate agency will handle the media buy but was not able to name the specific firm

“We’ve decided to leverage the image that tens-of-millions of people associate with Maxell by putting more energy and investment behind it,” said Don Patrican, executive vice president of Maxell in a company statement. Patrican was at Maxell when the original campaign was implemented in print and then on TV.