Did you know that 72% fewer kids have imaginary friends than 5 years ago? Well, neither did I, until we introduced Toys R Us Canada's Imagination Included campaign leading into the holiday season of 2022. The goal with this campaign was to shed a light on the lack of imaginary friends, and prove that Toys "R" Us is more than just a store. To prove that a trip to Toys "R" Us is an experience.
The figments were our fun little group of mascots for the Imagination Included campaign. The premise was to create very primitive shapes void of features to give us as a design team the freedom to get creative, and allow consumers to create their own. They were conceptualized as mascots to be used throughout all of the holiday marketing material as visual proxies for imaginary friends.
In addition to the figments, in association with advertising agency Broken Heart Love Affair, creative director Sal Stranges, and marketing director Allyson Banks, conceptualized not only this campaign but they also created Mr. Ferguson, another stand-in for a true imaginary friend in this commercial advertisement; watch it here.
The entire campaign was focused on, and centered around the idea of imaginary friends, all in an attempt to present Toys "R" Us as the leading purveyor of play, and I can speak from personal experience when I say children don't play anymore, at least not the way the children of my generation did. Children's imaginations are dwindling remnants of generations past because play isn't what it used to be, for fear of sounding like too much of an old soul.
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