Wow! It's a dog's life as Mrs Wong replaced

Carlsberg Brewery and Park'N Shop are spending more than $20.5 million and $15 million respectively on advertising campaigns.

The Carlsberg campaign, which runs until the end of the month, is a continuation of its ongoing look at beer culture and thoughts and feelings of consumers. The 60-second spot features a man who believes his pet cat has been abducted by aliens.

In Park'N Shop's three to four-week campaign involving three adverts, feisty old consumer watchdog Mrs Wong has been replaced by new animated characters JJ and his dog Wow Wow. The 30-second spots are targeted at young families and focus on price, customer care and quality.

Geoff Cundle, general manager for Carlsberg, said $5 million had been spent to produce the ad created by Bozell Advertising. The company's second commercial will start airing in August.

He said the commercial's theme, similar to the X-Files television series, was coincidental.

'It's intended to have a contemporary feel and we have found today's younger consumers want to be challenged by advertisements so they make an impact. It's important to try to mould consumer perceptions and get the image right - it's a key element to marketing the brand,' Mr Cundle said.