Chuck E. Cheese Entertainment Inc. announced plans to launch a national ad campaign Thursday with a new image of the company's mascot. The campaign will aim to give the mascot a face-lift from a cheap New Jersey rat to a cool, kid-friendly mouse.
Chuck E. Cheese has used the same mascot for 35 years.
The company, based in Irving, Texas, is suffering in sales revenue, as it tries to revive income within its 500 restaurants which offer games, prizes, and performances done by the mascot.
In May, CEC reported that its income at many of its locations dropped by at least 4.2 percent in the first quarter.
Chuck E. Cheese fan site, ShowBizPizza.com has been responsible for creating the mascot's voice for almost 20 years.
The company was never informed of the mascot's transformation until stumbling upon "Chuck's Hot New Single" online and realizing that the voice and soundtrack was done by someone else.
Duncan Brannan provided the former voice for the mascot. Last week a comment on the fan site posted by Brannan explained how he was once responsible for upgrading the mascot from "a joke-telling, sometime off-color New Jersey rat" into a recognizable and lovable mouse.
He also mentioned that recent indirect actions from the company suggested that he was no longer needed for the mascot's voice. However, the company told him that he would still provide the voice for the mascot.
CEC Entertainment says that Brannan wasn't fired but that the company "chose to utilize new voice talent" for that particular ad campaign.
Brannan is said to still have a contract with CEC and its restaurants.
Launching this week, the new Chuck E. Cheese will be voiced by Jaret Reddick, the lead singer of punk band Bowling for Soup. A silhouette of the new and improved mascot playing a guitar can be seen on the Chuck E. Cheese Facebook page.
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