Annoying Orange Expands UK Presence

Annoying Orange Returns For Its Second Season on May 16th

Image via AnnoyingOrange.com

The Joester Loria Group and millions of fans are celebrating the news that Annoying Orange will be returning to Cartoon Network for its second season on May 16th at 7:30 p.m.  During its freshman season, Annoying Orange has been a ratings juggernaut, averaging close to two million viewers for all premiere episodes.  Now Orange, his popular produce pals, and Nerville, the proprietor of a fruit stand (played by YouTube Sensation Toby Turner), are back with exciting new escapades and a slate of featured guest voices including Dave Grohl, Rainn Wilson, Al Yankovic, Kellan Lutz, Olivia Munn, Gilbert Gottfried, David Cross, Jack McBrayer, Carl Edwards, Maria Menounos and Kendall Jenner.

Annoying Orange expanded from a viral video into a YouTube series with more than one billion views before making its prime time debut on Cartoon Network.  Developed and produced by leading entertainment management and production company The Collective, Dane Boedigheimer (the creator of the Annoying Orange web series) co-created the television series with Tom Sheppard (Emmy® Award-winning writer for Pinky and the Brain).   In addition to its broadcast and online momentum, The Joester Loria Group has successfully extended the brand to toys, apparel, publishing, and more. The first season of The High Fructose Adventure of Annoying Orange is also coming to DVD on May 28.

THE COLLECTIVE SIGNS MULTI-BOOK DEAL WITH HARPERCOLLINS TO PUBLISH ANNOYING ORANGE JOKE BOOKS

The Joester Loria Group recently brokered a new brand licensing deal on behalf of our client Annoying Orange, with HarperCollins Children’s Books for a new series of joke and picture books inspired by The Annoying Orange, the most-watched web comedy series and top rated Cartoon Network show.

The first joke book, Annoying Orange: How to Be Annoying, will debut this Fall for readers ages 6 to 10. The follow up title, Annoying Orange: Halloweenie, will release in Summer 2014, for kids ages 4 to 8. Both titles will sell for $7.99. Additionally, HarperCollins Children’s has plans to publish four more titles in 2014 including the second joke book, a Valentine’s Day book and a Christmas book. Furthermore, an Easter title will round out the collection in Spring 2015.

“A breakout hit among the grade school set, Annoying Orange has a huge following among young fans of the web and television shows,” says David Linker, Executive Editor at HarperCollins. “We look forward to developing this new publishing program for young readers who revel in his cheeky sense of humor and irreverent sensibility.”

The HarperCollins Children’s Books licensing deal is just the latest addition to a burgeoning licensing program for Annoying Orange. Other categories in the brand’s growing brand licensing portfolio include electronics, toys and apparel and accessories for young men and juniors. A multi-platform marketing campaign also supports the rollout of all Annoying Orange products.

JUICY LINE OF ANNOYING ORANGE NOVELTY PRODUCTS COMING SOON

Leading entertainment management and production company, The Collective, has partnered with Play Visions, a leading provider of novelty items, to produce new lines, including stickers and temporary tattoos, inspired by Annoying Orange, the most-watched web series of all-time and star of a hit Cartoon Network series. These deals were brokered by The Joester Loria Group, the licensing agent for the Annoying Orange brand in North America, on behalf of their client, The Collective.

Play Visions has developed several new products that will debut at retail this year including Annoying Orange talking pens featuring a variety of hilarious phrases from the hit series and the first ever Annoying Orange temporary tattoos. Each package of tattoos contains multiple fan-favorite character images that can be easily applied and removed. Play Visions has also created 3D lenticular stickers decorated with popular Annoying Orange characters and sayings. With every movement, the images change position in 3D. Both the tattoos and stickers retail at $3.99 while the pens retail for $11.95, and will be available at retail later this year.

Play Visions joins a burgeoning licensing program for Annoying Orange.  Recently, an Annoying Orange electronics line debuted from Sakar.  A master toy deal was brokered with The Bridge, Direct, Inc., in 2011 for a line of talking plush, clip-ons, and collectible figures, which are available at specialty retailers including Toys “R” Us.  Additionally, Annoying Orange apparel and accessories for young men and juniors from Hybrid Apparel, LF USA and Accessory Innovations are now available at retail. A multi-platform marketing campaign also supports the rollout of all Annoying Orange licensed products.

What To Expect at Toy Fair 2013

Toy Fair 2013, one of the largest and most important international toy trade shows, will take place from February 10 through February 13 at  the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Several Joester Loria Group clients will be presenting their latest brand licensing extensions in the toy category at the show. We’re excited to share this sneak preview of what you can expect from our clients at Toy Fair:

▪   The Bridge will be showcasing the latest Annoying Orange products including Talking Plush, Talking Plush Clip-Ons, Talking Keychains, Talking Collectibles, Mini Figures, Talking Playfaces and Talking Target Game (Dart Board) at booth 4B2 on the fourth floor.

▪   Play Visions also will present its latest Annoying Orange assortment of pens, motion stickers and tattoos at booth 477.

▪   Sakar will display Annoying Orange iPhone cases, headphones and iPad cases at booth 1731.

▪   Bendon Publishing will showcase Animal Planet color and activity books and flashcards at booth 5717.

▪   H.I.S. Juveniles will display Animal Planet car seats, stroller toys, neck pillows, travel blankets and bath toys at booth 5741.

▪   The Poof Slinky booth will feature MythBusters science activity kits that follow a “trial and error,” hands-on format, allowing kids to “bust” myths related to everything from aviation to air pressure at booth 1977.

▪   MythBusters The Game will be on display at the Wonder Forge booth 2761.

▪   Kids Preferred will be showing the full range of The World of Eric Carle infant developmental toys and plush at booth 2167.

▪   Mudpuppy will feature the full range of World of Eric Carle wooden magnetic sets and puzzles at booth 6305.

▪   University Games will highlight The World of Eric Carle puzzles and games at booth 1661.

▪   The World of Eric Carle Storytime Pal and Book Buddy will be shown by Zoobies at booth 1063.

Annoying Orange’s Rise To Success

Time’s Business of Creativity section recently highlighted the whirlwind success of our client, Annoying Orange. The article covers the creator of Annoying Orange, Dane Boedigheimer, and his rise to success with the property,  a YouTube webisode that soon became a viral sensation.  Since launching in 2009, Annoying Orange has expanded to a brand supported with a complete licensed merchandise program and is now a hit television series on Cartoon Network.

The Annoying Orange TV series appeals greatly to a target audience of boys, and is the top-rated show for this demographic in its Monday night slot.  The show came out with strong ratings and continues to perform, so much so that Cartoon Network ordered 15 more episodes of the Annoying Orange series this past November.

Annoying Orange continues to stay true to its roots in digital and in its most recent nod to another pop culture phenomenon, Annoying Orange spoofed Gangnam Style with a video that already has generated more than nine million views.

The article points out how the brand’s viral groundswell is what propelled it to mainstream media.  Now with an Annoying Orange Christmas album, featuring funny renditions of holiday classics, available on iTunes, and Christmas special on Cartoon Network on December 3, Annoying Orange has now established itself as here to stay.

Read Time’s article, YouTube to Boob Tube: Dane Boedigheimer’s Annoying Orange TV Show Has Kids Hooked.

Annoying Orange’s All-Star Holiday Special

Last night was a special night for our client Annoying Orange with the premiere of the “Annoying Orange Generic Holiday Special” which aired on Cartoon Network.  This new special included several celebrity guests including Maria Menounos, Bret Michaels, Alice Cooper, and Weird Al Yankovic in fun skits and strange takes on well-known holiday songs. Weird Al, Bret Michaels, and Alice Cooper sing a “Holiday Mash-Up” while Maria Menounos flirts with Orange, much to Passion Fruit’s dismay.

Annoying Orange was created by Dane Boedigheimer and took the Internet by storm when it debuted on YouTube in October 2009. Since then it has quickly racked up more than one billion total views and more than 2.4 million YouTube channel subscribers. The popularity has also translated to more than 11 million likes on Facebook and four million monthly page views to the official Annoying Orange website. 

In June, Annoying Orange embarked on a new adventure with the debut of its animated television series on Cartoon Network, which has become an instant hit in the U.S., continually ranking amongst the top shows for boys its time slot. The series currently airs Monday at 8:30pm ET/7:30pm CT on Cartoon Network and is available for download through iTunes, Xbox, and PlayStation.

On behalf of leading entertainment management and production company, The Collective, The Joester Loria Group has expanded this hugely popular brand through a wide array of licensing partnerships in a variety of categories including toys, apparel, accessories, loungewear, electronics, candy, gift and books.

Wired.com, Tubefilter.com and MTV Geek blog also covered Annoying Orange’s All-Star Holiday Special.

New Insights About Children’s Brand Preferences

With Black Friday and the holiday season quickly approaching, holiday shopping is top of mind for many consumers. Many shoppers will be searching for gifts for the children in their lives. An interesting study recently shed some light on the most popular brands among young girls and boys. 

Kidscreen recently reported on a new study called “Young Love”, conducted by the research firm Smarty Pants, that revealed some interesting insights about brand preferences among young girls. According to Smarty Pants, young girls are being drawn to brands like Lego and Batman that traditionally have been targeted to young boys. Smarty Pants asked a group of children ages six to twelve along with their mothers to rank 250 brands and Lego was the highest ranked brand among the girls in the study. The next highest ranking brands among the girls were Batman, Superman, and Cartoon Network. 

This study has interesting implications for brand marketing strategies for children’s products. At The Joester Loria Group, we see how true this study really is with Annoying Orange, considered by most a traditional boys brand.  However, we are finding that many girls and juniors are also big fans of the brand and are purchasing consumer products as well.

Cartoon Network Renews Annoying Orange

The Joester Loria Group is pleased to share that the Annoying Orange Cartoon Network series has been renewed by Cartoon Network.  The program, based on Dane Boedigheimer’s YouTube phenomenon, is the top-rated program for boys on Mondays and has been greenlit for another 30 – 11 minute episodes.

Annoying Orange has shown that it is a fan favorite.  For Cartoon Network’s 20^th birthday, a poll was run on CN.com asking fans which show they would like to join. The shows included Level Up, Total Drama, Adventure Time, Regular Show, Kids Next Door and The Annoying Orange.  Approximately 500,000 votes came in for this category and The Annoying Orange won with about 150,000 votes! Below is a link to the contest.

It’s original web series still continues to entertain with over one billion YouTube views while the licensing partnerships around the Annoying Orange brand continue to expand worldwide.   The Joester Loria Group is the exclusive licensing agent for the brand in North America and Canada and has brokered deals for Annoying Orange toys, apparel, accessories, loungewear, electronics, candy, gift and books; Annoying Orange products can be found at retailers nationwide.

Annoying Orange Debuts Graphic Novel at Comic Con