TUCSON, Ariz.. – Truly Nolen announced a new series of comic book-style television ads featuring termites, roaches, ants and bedbugs as the villains and the Truly Nolen team  as the heroes. The ads also give the company’s signature Mouse Car, which was first introduced 50 years ago, a new contemporary look and feel.

“There’s a strong affinity and nostalgia for the old Comic strips that brought us so many famous characters and villains,” said Michelle Nolen Senner, head of marketing and advertising for Truly Nolen. “So we wanted the familiarity with our Truly Nolen Comics’ series, but we wanted something that didn’t look like anything else out there.”

The first ad in the series features a roundtable meeting of a bug crime syndicate somewhere in a secret hideout declaring: “All of the families go to war against the two legs,” referring to humans. In another frame, a sinister military dictator-like termite proclaims: “We will leave nothing standing!” The Truly Nolen team is then summoned to vanquish the villains, with a notice to viewers “To be continued.”

In other installments, the revamped Truly Nolen Mouse car will be part of the evil-fighting superhero team.
“Using animation gives the commercials a broader look so that it can run in markets across the country and viewers in Massachusetts won’t see an ad that looks like it was shot in Florida,” Senner said. “It’s a creative way to solve a logistical issue, and build a national campaign that has the potential to rise to the iconic level of characters such as the E-Trade baby or the Geico Gecko.”

Tucson-based Motto Productions produced the ads. The first one has started running in selected markets in Florida and Arizona. As the campaign rolls out, Truly Nolen plans to hold a nationwide contest using social media to ask students for suggestions for future installments.