Pedal for Scotland is the biggest and fastest growing cycling event
in Scotland. It`s a 51 mile cycle ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh, taking
participants on a scenic tour of the back roads and cycle paths between
Scotland’s two major cities.This year, over 9000 participants saddled up for the fun and active day out with colleagues, friends and family.
As the main sponsor; Fresh `n Lo jumped back in the saddle to support the new and improved version this year. In marketing the
event to a wide audience, Bella the Model Milking Cow and her model calf accompanied by a professional stunt
cyclist were used extensively in the media throughout the event.
LATITUDE FESTIVAL MODEL SHEEP STORY...
The 5th Edition of Latitude Festival took place at its habitual home in Suffolk again incorporating the very latest music and arts. The iconic multi-coloured sheep have come to symobolise the event;representing the diversity of the cream of the crop from comedy, theatre, literary,
cabaret, film and art.
So it should not have come as a complete surprise when the organisers contacted us to supply a flock of fibreglass model sheep which were transformed into a variety of different colours for the hugely successful summer event.
JERSEY COW STORY...
In 2008 the island of Jersey, saw the first importation of a life size Jersey Milking Cow onto the island in decades....
The purity of
the breed on the Island has been maintained by a strict ban on imports.
This ban has been in place for some 150 years. There are no
other breeds of the cattle on the Island.
We were therefore pleased to be commissioned to produce a fully functioning model milking Jersey cow for the main Adventure Park on the island.
The cow has been a massive success with visitors to the Channel Island; especially with the children.
And in the following year 2009; the park was a finalist in the National Farm Attraction of the Year award.
After winning a couple of national competitions with this surreal image of the cow on the roof of the Horn Milk Bar, amateur photographer Garry Peters, submitted it to the Scotland on Sunday.
The eye-catching photo featured in the SPECTRUM magazine in August 2007.
Sheep Rustling
Beware sheep rustlers operating in Oxfordshire…
One of our clients purchased a small flock to enhance the driveway
leading to his estate. Unfortunately, one of his flock suddenly
disappeared one evening. Over the following few weeks our client
received a series of ransom demands via his mobile phone. These were
accompanied by photos on the phone of the woolly beast in compromising
situations…..
The “victim” recognised the initial shots of his sheep being
photographed having a drink in a couple of his local hostelries….. This was followed by a scene of the sheep lying on a hotel bed
surrounded by a number of empty champagne bottles…The series of
photographs continued with the sheep handcuffed outside a police
station - being interviewed inside the station by the desk sergeant - and on
the park & ride bus going into Chipping Norton. The clinching shot
for the victim , was the sheep being led into the butchers` shop……
The last we heard, he was attempting to "meat" the "ransom demands" in order to restore the sheep back into the flock.… then track down his mates who carried out this callous act !
MOOVING ON UP...
Voted Dublin`s top music radio station at the recent PPI radio awards, SPIN 1038 got their listeners in a real spin after launching a brand new competition with cash prizes featuring : THE CASH COW.
Every day throughout November and December, a bright pink six foot high plastic cow visited locations all over Dublin city on the back of a trailer, accompanied by a couple of bright pink Mini Cars.
Standing out like a bright, pink beacon, on the side of the CASH COW was a CASH COW CODE WORD. Listeners were given clues as to the rough vicinity of the cow, and were then required to track her down in order to identify the Code Word for that day.
Once they have the CASH COW CODE WORD, listeners were required to text it to the radio station in order to give them the chance to milk the cow for cash.....
SPIN 1038`s Marketing Manager Jamie Crawford enthused.... "Feedback from the streets of Dublin has been phenomenal. The whole concept of THE CASH COW has not only massively increased awareness of our radio station and made everyone smile, but perfectly illustrated our fresh and innovative style"....
It`s Autumn 2006 - soon it will be Xmas, and your office in Bermuda has just been challenged by your London counterparts to buy the other the most unusual christmas present ever.
The creative minds across the Atlantic had to think...
* what could Bermuda possibly send to London that would be unforgettable....?
* how could we also provide a unique and everlasting marketing tool... ?
[ The London Office of Lancashire Insurance should have guessed that their colleagues would obviously know a thing or two about "Secret Santa".... ]
One phone call later, and the unanimous (and obvious) choice of a large life size plastic cow was commissioned; complete with unique Lancashire Insurance corporate design.
Art Animals were given an open design brief, only specifying that Miss Bermoo-da should be tastefully branded for marketing purposes.
After much brain-storming, our final concept and colour scheme of ..... "Every cloud..." met with unanimous approval from the Bermudan Office, and our artist set to work.
Luckily, the service lift which goes to the 11th floor of the London Office in the city centre was just big enough to fit a life size model cow diagonally across.The lift attendant reckoned history had been created as he..." had never had a cow in the lift before."
As she arrived, the weekly phone conference call between the two offices of Lancashire Insurance was underway.Like a scene from Monty Python, the model cow rose up through the floor in the glass lift, to stand in front of the meeting room.
The office erupted into chaos, as staff in London struggled to come to terms with their " is that really a cow ? " xmas present, while their contemporaries in Bermuda maintained a professional manner on the end of the phone (smugly)...
There is now a swell of opinion within the boardroom that Miss Bermoo-da should feature somewhere in the annual report. This would certainly be our first animal to appear in the Annual Report of a billion dollar public company !!
Of course, she may then have to be classed as the "Six Billion Dollar Cow" !
CAPTION COMPETITION 1
Why is this man hugging a plastic cow?
Send your caption entries please via the contact page
CAPTION COMPETITION 2
What are these ladies gossiping about ?
Send your caption entries please via the contact page.
INCREDIBLE
COW FACTS...
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All cows are females.
(The males are called bulls !)
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Cows have four stomachs
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A cow can`t give milk until she`s given birth to a calf
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The average cow produces 90 glasses of milk each day
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Cows provide 90%of the world`s milk.Water buffalo, camels, goats, sheep, horses, and reindeer are also milked.
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A cow`s udder can hold 25-50 pounds of milk. It`s not surprising that she is so keen to be milked.
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Edinburgh International Book Festival 2005 was the venue for the launch of KATIE`S COO
" ... a delightful board book containing some much loved traditional Scots rhymes along with a few that are less well-known specifically for babies and very young children ..."
At the time, Scotland`s First Minister Jack McConnell was on hand to give his personal support to the publication.
As an ex-teacher, he felt sure that bairns would love the combination of Scots words, sounds and illustrations.
Health & beauty products giant, Superdrug, launched a new brand at their Annual Conference in Birmingham.
"Messy Cow - Udderly Organised" appeared shortly after in all branches. Having received the design guidelines, our artist then set about transforming one of our girls into a Messy Cow - she even has a wee hole bored to strategically put a flower in her mouth...
The funky new brand which combines a dark brown with two tone pink flowers went down a storm with the delegates who wanted to take the Messy Conference Cow home...
The company are now exploring the possibility of retailing a "Mini Messy Cow" in their shops....
At the Great British Beer Festival 2005, Badger Brewery wanted to take a small piece of Dorset to London.
Their amazing stand consisted of a cob cottage, some dry stone walls, trees, a replica Cerne Abbas giant and a cow affectionately named "Buttercup".The display helped build the brand values of Dorset and the countryside.
"...The cow allowed us to give a different focus for our stand, and allowed us to run a promotion where you could “win a cow”, the cow in this case was not Buttercup but a side of Prime Dorset Beef.
We also took Buttercup to the BBC Good Food Show, where again the whole countryside stand made a good impact and the cow helped add to the countryside feel.
Buttercup looks great, is a good focal point and is extremely well painted...."
- Reuben Horsley, Marketing Executive, Hall & Woodhouse Ltd.
The UK`s 5 Star Hotel of the Year 2003, The Scotsman - in Edinburgh, operate a luxury spa & health club called the COWSHED.
A cow was customised to incorporate the COWSHED branding by our artists, and subsequently arrived at the club to cast an eye over guests enduring their workouts ! Promotion soon beckoned, and she now greets members and guests as they arrive to check in @ reception.
"The cow has been a absolutely massive hit, and for some unknown reason, it`s now become a ritual by our members that they have to pat the cow`s backside before a workout - allegedly to give them strength...!!"
Steve Hales, Escape Health Club Manager, Scotsman Hotel
The Coombe Farm Cow was presented to Chairperson, Nancy Ralphes, on her 75th birthday to commemorate 50 years of service at Coombe Farm.
It occupies pride of place overlooking the site and greeting visitors as they arrive. Nancy has christened the cow ‘Clover’ in recognition of the fact that most of Coombe Farm’s own dairy farms have now converted to organic milk production.
Neil McConachie wanted to surprise his pal Alistair Hamilton with a stunt that everyone would remember...
Knowing Ali was a die hard Aberdeen Football Club supporter, he commissioned a cow to be painted in the Aberdeen colours, complete with HAMILTON and the number 5 emblazoned on the back of the cow...
Complete with an autographed football (courtesy of Aberdeen FC) , "Aberdeen Agnes" was placed on Alistair`s lawn outside his house in an upmarket area of Livingston. Spotlights were added to give "Agnes" that film star look...
By the time Ali arrived home from work, a possee of friends invited around by his wife Rona, were hidden from view ready to watch the fun.
Gazing at the totally surreal scene confronting him, the clearly dumbfounded and bemused Ali stood for 10 minutes shaking his head, then eventually muttered "Bizarre, a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y bizarre........fit`s this aw aboot ?"
Agnes remained in the garden for a week attracting enormous interest; including 50 pupils from a local primary school who wanted to know why there was a life size red cow in the Hamiltons` garden ??
"It wis the best presint av ever had.........." said Ali after finally overcoming the shock.
He also featured with Agnes in the Match Programme of Aberdeen FC`s next home match.
Causing quite a stir at The Horn Restaurant adjacent to the A90 Perth to Dundee road, thelargest herd of Art Animals have already become a major topic of conversation in Tayside and beyond.
After only two appearances the cows have already appeared in the media...One of the cows now stands proudly on top of the restaurant resplendent in her customised global livery, and has just featured in a book...
"PULL THE UDDER ONE - ARE THESE COWS FOR REAL ?
....Bemused commuters have been pulling over all weekend to discover if the cows are really real. ..."
Press & Journal , ( Front Page)
June 16th 2003
YES, THESE REALLY ARE COWS OUTSTANDING IN THEIR FIELDS...
Appearing alongside Angela Anderson (HBOS adverts) at the Royal Highland Show since 2003, this cash cow has proved particularly popular with the agricultural customers.
A nationwide competition was held to name the bovine beauty; the judges finally deciding that the winning entry from thousands was "Betty Moo"....
Since then "Betty Moo`s" popularity with staff and customers has risen to such an extent that she now has her own cartoon strip in the Bank of Scotland Staff Magazine !
Every year she greets customers outside the bank`s stand. However, "Betty Moo" would like to make it clear that she recently underwent a face-paint from her make-up artist not a face-lift thereby dispelling any rumours that she has had plastic surgery !!!
This attractive life size plastic cow now appears annually at AgriScot, the premier winter event in the UK agriculture diary. Taking place 500 metres from Edinburgh Airport at the Royal Highland Centre in November, she looks forward to welcoming the farming community, as the popular figurehead of the major sponsor.
ART ANIMALS ARE EXTREMELY REALISTIC - BEWARE IMITATIONS WHICH ARE NOT...
PERTH AGRICULTURAL SHOW takes place annually on the first weekend in August. In order to maximise exposure of the big event, the Society hired a cow which attracted huge local media attention. Artwork was undertaken by Art Animals resident artist ; Anne Eccles,outside the Society offices in Perth.
Show Secretary at the time, Hazel McFadzean exclaimed"It must be the best advertising we have ever had..."
Courier & Advertiser July 16th 2003
Subsequently christened Bertha, the "Blue Coo" was purchased in 2004 to be used as the Show Mascot, and gained maximum exposure for the event by "appearing" at venues all over the region in the build up to the Show.
Recognising Bertha`s unique appeal , in 2005 the Directors had the foresight to increase the herd by purchasing a bull calf - as featured in the Courier newspaper.
Alongside a media campaign similar to the previous years`,a competition was held involving local schools naming the calf. Show Secretary Neil Forbes has already felt the impact:"After the overwhelming response I`m thinking of applying for the job of Registrar of Births ..."
PERTH SHOW 2006
Thousands of visitors again descended on the Fair City`s South Inch, the traditional fairground in Perth for a two-day crowd-puller. Continued great summer weather ensured that the town-meets-country event remains as popular as ever. Bertha the Cow Mascot, and her calf viewed proceedings from the roof of the Secretary`s Office; enjoying a "cows-eye" view of the entertainment in the main ring.
Assistant Secretary Vikki Robb commented : " ...Our cow Bertha is now a firm favourite with the Perth public who instantly recognise her and her association with Perth Show. Standing on top the Secretary`s Office, she certainly catches the eye from her grandstand view ..."
Some other ideas for painting your Art Animal..................
Art Animals were given an open design brief, only specifying that Miss Bermoo-da should be tastefully branded for marketing purposes. 
The Coombe Farm Cow was presented to Chairperson, Nancy Ralphes, on her 75th birthday to commemorate 50 years of service at Coombe Farm. 
Alongside a media campaign similar to the previous years`,a competition was held involving local schools naming the calf. Show Secretary Neil Forbes has already felt the impact:"After the overwhelming response I`m thinking of applying for the job of Registrar of Births ..."
