CEC Entertainment Inc. says it plans to launch a national ad campaign Thursday with a revamped image of Chuck E. Cheese as a hip, electric-guitar-playing rock star.
It's just the latest makeover for the 35-year-old mascot, which once was a New Jersey 鼠, 大鼠 who sometimes carried a cigar.
CEC Entertainment, based in Irving, Texas, is struggling to revive sales at its 更多 than 500 比萨, 比萨饼 restaurants, which offer games, prizes and a musical variety show. In May, CEC 说 revenue at its locations open at least a 年 fell 4.2 percent in the first quarter and lowered its outlook for the year.
According to ShowBizPizza.com, a Chuck E. Cheese 粉丝 site, the man who voiced the mascot in restaurants and commercials since 1993 learned of his replacement only after coming across " Chuck's Hot New Single" online and realizing it was sung 由 someone else. The 粉丝 site late last week published a 脸谱 post 由 Duncan Brannan, the mascot's former voice.
Brannan could not be reached for comment. But in the post, he writes that part of his assignment when he first took on the role was to transform Chuck E. Cheese from "a joke-telling, sometime off-color New Jersey rat" to a lovable, mainstream mouse.
He notes that there were various signs in 最近的 months that suggested he was being pushed out, but that he was assured 由 the company that he was still the voice of Chuck E.
The 脸谱 post was republished 由 The Dallas Observer this week.
CEC Entertainment says that Brannan wasn't fired but that it simply "chose to utilize new voice talent" for its ad campaign. The company 说 Brannan, a freelancer, is still in contract with the company to provide entertainment in its restaurants.
The new Chuck E. Cheese that launches this week will be voiced 由 Jaret Reddick, the lead singer for the pop-punk bank Bowling for Soup. The Chuck E. Cheese 脸谱 page now shows a silhouette of a cartoon 老鼠, 鼠标 playing a guitar.
The first Chuck E. Cheese's 比萨, 比萨饼 Time Theatre location opened in 1977 in San Jose, Calif. According to ShowBizPizza.com, the idea for Chuck E. came from a generic mascot costume that was acquired 由 the founder, Nolan Bushnell, who also co-founded Atari and Pong. Executives originally considered calling the restaurant "Rick Rat's Pizza" but a PR agency figured a 鼠, 大鼠 would be a bad mascot for a 比萨, 比萨饼 chain.
The name Chuck E. Cheese was selected because it downplayed the mascot's species and forced people to smile when they 说 it, according to the site.
