Argos Aliens

A doll line based on the Argos Aliens advertising characters was produced from 2013 to 2014 by Chad Valley, and sold exclusively at Argos stores and online in the UK.

The toys were commissioned after the success of the ad campaign featuring the characters, which began in late 2011. The four members of the alien family would release in summer 2013, starting with the children Astrid and Rufus and shortly followed by their parents. Following the introduction of new character Baby Blue to the ad campaign, two dolls based on Baby Blue would be released in early 2014.

The ad campaign would end in July 2014, though the toys would remain on sale for a short period on clearance.

“Just a simple Alien family from planet Gorsa trying to get to grips with life on earth. We LOVE shopping, interacting with humans and TV.” – the official Argos Aliens Twitter account

The Argos Aliens campaign was created by advertising agency CHI and Partners, featuring puppetry and SFX from Asylum Models. The campaign ran from 2011 to 2014 and spanned numerous ads, including multiple Christmas campaigns. Some of these ads encouraged social media engagement – for example, the naming of Baby Blue was conducted through crowdsourcing on Twitter with the NameOurBaby hashtag. Gift cards featuring the characters were sold in Argos stores around the time of the ad campaign.

According to online credits, Dad was voiced by Bill Nighy, while Mum was voiced by Caroline Quentin and Claire Skinner – Astrid and Rufus were voiced by Trixiebelle Harrowell & Benjamin Lyons respectively.