The agreement, with Italian company Pea&Promoplast, a European leader in the promotions sector, will see the creation of a number of Angry Birds promotional products, beginning with a new collection of soft toys, inspired by the wildly popular feathered heroes of video games, a hit film and a very successful licensing campaign. Red, Chuck and Bomb and the full set of Hatchlings will be the stars of the Pea&Promoplast plush toys and numerous other themed Angry Birds promotional products, which will be developed by Pea&Promoplast for use in Angry Birds promotional activities alongside brand partners from various sectors. Pea&Promoplast is a European leader in the promotions sector with a strong track record of innovation for over 40 years. It creates integrated, multichannel projects for the toys, publishing, promotion and visual merchandising sectors, supported by international distribution. Its teams specialise in various sectors: collectibles, promotions, toys, entertainment, and loyalty programmes. MD Licensing handles the licensing rights for Angry Birds for the Italian and Swiss markets. It has developed a wide range of Angry Birds licenses that involve leading companies in their sectors across a number of different product categories, including back to school, personal care, publishing, toys, clothing and food. Licensing partners signed to date include Academy, Admiranda, Fabbri, Gilmar, Granarolo, World, Nestlé, Perletti, Ravensburger, Walcor and Warm Up Industry. The success of the Angry Birds video game series, one of the most popular the world has ever seen, and the Angry Birds Movie, which has grossed nearly $350 million, have driven continuing strong licensee engagement with the brand in Italy. Gianluca Vacchi, CEO Pea&Promoplast, said: "This major global partnership with Rovio, supported by the efforts of MD Licensing, has been a powerful recognition and endorsement of the strength of our work: more than twenty years experience in plush production for large global players such as De Agostini, Unilever, Ferrero and Warner. This experience will be invaluable in the development of Angry Birds promotional products based on the Angry Birds movie and the extraordinary Hatchlings spin-off, not to mention supplying the new Angry Birds theme park in Doha, Qatar." Maurizio Distefano, chairman and founder of the agency, added: "We have partnered with Pea&Promoplast on numerous projects for many years and we have enjoyed a great deal of success on a number of innovative projects. This agreement with Pea&Promoplast will allow us, alongside Rovio, to expand the reach of this brand even further — supported by some very high-quality plush versions of everybody’s favourite Angry Birds." |
