Born Licensing: Call My Agent, Smurfette

Beyonce is represented by CAA. Ben Affleck is represented by WME. Lizzo is represented by UTA. And fictional stars like Smurfette and Skeletor have agents too. In the run up to Super Bowl LVIII licensing agency Born Licensing has launched a new campaign positioning itself as ‘Agent to the Fictional Stars’. The ‘Call My Agent’ campaign imagines pop- culture icons Smurfette, Skeletor, Grumpy Bear, and Red from Angry Birds responding to requests to star in ads. ‘For Smurfs sake...a two-day commercial shoot without a body double?!’ Smurfette responds simply with ‘Call My Agent’. For nearly ten years, Born Licensing has been helping creative agencies and their clients secure licenses for fictional stars. They’re the team who brought together ASDA and Buddy the Elf for Havas’s ‘Have Your Elf a Merry Christmas’ campaign, MoneySuperMarket and He-Man & Skeletor for Mother’s ‘Epic Lift’ campaign, and Direct Line with RoboCop, Transformers, the Ninja Turtles, and Marvel Studios’ King Valkyrie for Saatchi & Saatchi’s award winning ‘We’re On It’ campaigns. Born Licensing represents thousands of fictional stars from a range of Rights Holders including Barbie, Rocky, the Cookie Monster, SpongeBob SquarePants, Power Rangers, Peter Rabbit, Ladybug, Snoopy, Care Bears, The Smurfs, Angry Birds, and many more. To coincide with the ‘Call My Agent’ campaign Born Licensing has launched a new Online Character Roster where industry creatives can explore their roster of fictional talent to find the perfect lead for their next campaign. Whether you’re looking for a villain, superhero, cyborg, or a talking animal – the broad range of fictional talent on Born Licensing’s roster means there is the perfect star for every brief and every message. As agent to the fictional stars Born Licensing manages the licensing process from start to finish including reach out, negotiations, releasing assets, and managing the resource-heavy approval process – without charging any clearance fees to advertising agencies or their clients. Unlike typical clearance companies, Born Licensing has the same business model as a talent agency which means they’re paid by the talent/rights holders rather than the advertising agency. The ‘Call My Agent’ campaign has been created by creative duo Will Grave and Sander Vos with designs by Xavier Segers. The campaign will be running across digital channels from 2nd November 2023.