The animation stars Wallace & Gromit, who have proved popular on both small and large screen, are to appear in a television advertisement for nPower.

The Oscar nominated pair get the job of delivering nPower’s core message of sensible home energy consumption. nPower has over six million UK residential gas and electricity accounts and is a market leader in renewable energy.

The message is put across in 30 to 40 second formats and will air on Channel 4 and ITV (Mid West and North). Its been created by agency VCCP.

The advertisement opens with Wallace in a state of panic in a darkened room. As he hides behind a cushion, he watches a horror film on his latest invention, a homemade widescreen TV, which is in effect a number of televisions taped together.

But eventually it’s not only the horror movie that’s frightening Wallace, but the realisation that his new invention is a huge energy consuming monster. This is the cue for good old Gromit to save the day, when he gets advice as to how to cut energy consumption from nPower customer care advisor Penny.

And Penny is full of sound advice when it comes to cutting energy consumption, telling Gromit that the npower smartpower electricity monitor is a useful device which allows their customers to keep a watchful eye on how much a house’s appliances are using in terms of juice. Then the film that Wallace was watching is revealed: Revenge of the Killer Watts.

All in all, maybe not worthy of another Oscar nomination, but nonetheless using such well loved characters will no doubt make a impact with quite a lot of people.

Kevin Peake, marketing director at nPower, said:
“We’re all guilty of being like Wallace and Gromit and wasting too much energy in the home, but we want to show that there are ways where we can help our customers save energy and money.

“smartpower electricity monitors are a great tool for customers to quantify how they use energy in the home and Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit really bring this message to life.”

Agency VCCP has been working alongside Nick Park’s Aardman Animations to produce the commercial.

Sean Clarke, Head of Aardman Rights, said:
“Wallace and Gromit lend themselves perfectly to dispelling the myths around energy efficiency in the entertaining way they are famous for.”

nPower has also announced that it welcomes the news of a Welsh boiler scrappage scheme and that, as with the English scheme, it is set to become the first energy supplier to launch its own boiler scrappage scheme in Wales.

The scheme in Wales is based on the Government offering a £500 grant to around 5,000 households in Wales that are replacing ‘G’ SEDBUK rated boilers with those which have a modern ‘A’ rating.

But nPower’s scheme offers a £400 discount off a new boiler when its replaced with one that is over ten years old. And, importantly, this offer is open to consumers of all ages. This means that the under 60s, or households whose boilers are old, but not G-Rated, can still enjoy the nPower discount.

Kevin Miles, Chief Executive Officer of nPower retail, said:
“It’s vital we play our part in supporting this Government initiative. Customers can now enjoy £900 off the cost of a new boiler, which could be almost a third off the cost of an installation. This is in addition to savings of nearly £235 off an annual gas bill, compared to a G Rated boiler.

“However, with just 5,000 installs up for grabs, consumers should act quickly to avoid disappointment.”

Guest Article by Neil Camp