Bell's beavers bite it

Frank and Gordon made their debut in Quebec in 2005 as Jules and Bertrand.

After cutting a good portion of its middle management, Bell Canada has sent two more employees to the unemployment line:
Frank and Gordon.

Montreal-based Bell Canada Inc. is axing the beavers as its mascots and spokesanimals as of Friday. The company made the
announcement in full-page newspaper ads across the country.

"It's been a blast," the ads read. "Nature is calling and we have been invited back to the forest to become teachers for
a whole new generation of spokecritters."

The decision to get rid of the animals — one of the more divisive ad campaigns in Canadian marketing history — is a
symbolic statement by the company that it is under new management, Bell spokesman Mark Langton said.

"It was time for a change. The beavers have served us well, they were very well known and quite popular and well known.
But it's time to move on."

The beavers, originally launched by the Cossette Communication Group in Quebec in 2005 as Jules and Bertrand and
expanded nationally as Frank and Gordon a year later. They drew high marks in surveys by ad tracking firm Léger
Marketing for awareness and likeability, but were equally reviled in the same surveys.

There are no plans to change ad agencies, Langton said, and Cossette will be behind a new campaign that will roll out
shortly.

Bell on Monday announced it was cutting 2,500 middle-management positions, or about six per cent of its total workforce,
in an effort to shake up and streamline its operations. The move is expected to save the company $300 million, Bell said.

Madonna wrote in news:g6vpv5$qki$1@aioe.org:

Norm Macdonald? Man has *he* fallen since the loonies at NBC fired him
from Saturday Night Live. Belushi was wilder and never got fired. Times
change and shows go downhill.

On Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:59:48 -0400, Madonna wrote:

I understand that in retribution, they've switched their DSL accounts to
TekSavvy.

Fid ethereal.org> fell face-first on the keyboard. This was the
result: news:0oe794hkq3e6d6d722m2nsdbgoi00o6oh1@4ax.com:

(I know one line replies are bad, but...) ROFLMAO!!!

:)

"Madonna" wrote in message news:g6vpv5$qki$1@aioe.org...

Bell sold them to The Hudson Bay Company, they were last seen in a fur coat
worn by Brigette Bardot. Bardot released a statment saying, I really love
beaver!

"Madonna" wrote in message news:g6vpv5$qki$1@aioe.org...

Oh I misread the Subject, I thought it said Bell beavers get laid ;)

"Fid" ethereal.org> wrote in message
news:0oe794hkq3e6d6d722m2nsdbgoi00o6oh1@4ax.com...

That's Frank.Beaver@teksavvy.net and Gord.Beaver@teksavvy.net they are now
working the abuse desk at TekSavvy, reading Scoville screeds!

"Madonna" wrote in message news:g6vq7d$rqn$1@aioe.org...

Eating beaver drool.... yum mmmmmm, beaver!

abuse complaints to: abuse@freespeechstore.com