Digger Invades Internet in Lamisil Campaign

NEW YORK Digger the Dermatophyte, the yellow, flaky, cross-eyed critter first introduced in an offline campaign earlier this year for Lamisil, is back in a series of online ads breaking this week for the toe fungus treatment.

The interactive effort from iDeutsch in New York further extends the personality of Digger, the dastardly creature that invades and infects nails.

The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness of onychomycosis, a condition that results in thick, discolored and/or flaky nails. It also aims to educate consumers on how Novartis' Lamisil treats the condition and encourage them to talk to their doctors about it.

"[Digger] is the means by which we're shaking people," said iDeutsch svp, creative director Ingrid Bernstein. "He makes people wake up and say, 'I need to do something; it's not just cosmetic.'"

In one ad, for instance, a microscope reveals Digger and his friends invading thick, discolored, flaky toenails. Copy reads, "These guys are an active infection that live under your nails and cause your discolored, thick or flaky toenails." A Lamisil tablet then rolls across the ad to destroy the critters, as copy explains, "Prescription Lamisil tablets work through the bloodstream to attack the infection under the nail--where it lives."

A number of executions will be running across properties like WebMD, NYTimes.com, Discover Health and Yahoo! Health. WPP Group's OgilvyOne and Group M handle the media planning and buying.

IDeutsch is also planning to launch a redesigned Lamisil Web site (www.lamisil.com) this fall, said Bernstein.

Deutsch, parent of iDeutsch, was responsible for the print and TV effort that broke in April. The New York Interpublic Group shop landed the estimated $25 million creative account last October.