The UK's first human adverts are unveiled
Posted by Ben on Tuesday, September 3 2002

Five people who have changed their names by deed poll to that of a character in a video game in a unique marketing initiative have been revealed today. The five, comprising men and women, have all changed their identities to Turok, the hero character of a new game Turok Evolution being released by Acclaim Entertainment for PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube on September 6th.

The new Turoks have completed the legal formalities and instead of being known as Ross Davison, Paul Frederick Codling, Matthew Grist, Andrew Ian Boughflower and Lheila Rebeccah Oberman, will simply be called Turok. Everything from their passports to their telephone bills will now carry their new identities.

The idea behind Identity Marketing, which emanates from Dr Simeon Cantrell of the Institute of Science in Marketing, is that in the same way as a company might buy a television commercial, a billboard poster or a radio spot, they can now buy human identities. Acclaim UK has been the first company to embark on this cutting edge marketing route.

Proving the fact that Dr Cantrell believes that this type of marketing will become commonplace within the next 5 years, over 10,000 people applied to change their names to Turok through the website set up by Acclaim at www.mynameisturok.com.

Shaun White, Acclaim's UK Communications Manager said: "The five Turoks will no doubt speak to and meet tens of thousands of people between them over the next year and will be walking talking adverts for the Turok video game. We think this type of advertising is sure to take off and will prove to be a big hit for both Acclaim UK and Turok Evolution."

The five pioneers of Identity Marketing are each being paid £500 and will receive an Xbox and copies of the new Turok game for their troubles. They are free to change their names back to their original names after one year if they wish to.

For the further information, please contact:
Gavin Lewis or Vicky Goodkind at Frank PR
Tel: 020 7693 6999
Email: gavin@frankpr.it

About the new Turoks:
Previous name Age From Job
Paul Frederick Colding 28 Norwich Martial Arts Instructor
Lheila Rebeccah Oberman 30 Hornchurch Midwife
Ross Davidson 18 Whitechapel Trainee Graphic Designer
Matthew Grist 27 New Southgate Dental Technician
Andy Ian Boughflower 34 Highbury Unemployed



About Turok:Evolution

Turok : Evolution will be available for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox video game system from Microsoft and Nintendo GameCube on September 6th 2002.

Turok : Evolution is a prequel to the epic games that have made dinosaurs an almost real-life experience. Playing as the original dinosaur hunter 'Tal'set', gamers will be faced with treachery, reptile armies, towering dinosaurs and all-out war in jaw-dropping environments such as dense jungles, baron industrial wasteland and soaring mountain vistas. Gamers are immersed in living, breathing locations swarming with live and hidden dangers.