History Advertising / Stressmannetje

The stressmannetje is a creation by Emma De Swaef, a director & StopMotion artist. The doll's voice is provided by Bruno Vanden Broecke. Famous is the agency behind the commercials and shorts, which were produced by Czar and utilized props made by Tanker, while Mindshare organized the surrounding media strategy.

The stressmannetje is a creation by Emma De Swaef, a director & StopMotion artist. The doll's voice is provided by Bruno Vanden Broecke. The commercials and shorts were produced by Famous while Mindshare organized the surrounding media strategy.

Various ''Stressmannetje'' products were available during the campaign's run, such as a [[TheSwearJar swear jar]] specifically to save up for a bus ticket and the stressmannetje's voice was available as download for the [=GPS=]. The aforementioned ''Stressmannetje - Het Spel'' is a simple mobile EndlessRunningGame. For seven weeks after its release, the 500 highest scoring players were awarded a key chain dolls of the stressmannetje.

In the years 2012-2014, De Lijn, a Flemish bus & tram service, had a marketing campaign built around a cute and tiny doll. This doll is the stressmannetje ("(little) stress guy", a common term for someone operating under stress) and he represents the stress automobilists experience while maneuvering through the city. The two commercials at the heart of the campaign put him and his human host in a rapid succession of relatably frustrating, traffic-related situations to which the end message is to leave your stress (the doll) at home by taking the bus. The ''Stressmannetje'' has won many prizes and is the most successful campaign of De Lijn to date.

* AudienceSurrogate: The stressmannetje is an over the top but highly relatable personification of the stress of managing a car in the crowded streets of a city. For instance, where his human host keeps his emotions inside upon hitting a parked car, the stressmannetje curls up and starts bawling.

* MysteriousAnimalSenses: Possibly. It's a likely scenario that the stressmannetje is imaginary and aside from his human host only animals ever notice him. In "Stadsbeleving", he bumps into a dog, prompting the dog to look at him. One poster shows the stressmannetje being left home, banging on the windows while the cat looks at him.

* TheVoiceless: The human host of het stressmannetje never speaks. He doesn't have to because no interactions with other people occur during the commercials and the stressmannetje voices his thoughts.

* VagueAge: The stressmannetje is, ostensibly, an adult, because that's what his human is and he partakes in the same adult scenarios, such as looking for a parking spot and dealing with parking meters. Yet his high-pitched voice is childlike and he behaves with the same lack of restraint a child would.

There are three more peripheral shorts that were created for specific occasions. The first, from November 2013, reuses and loops the footage of the stressmannetje crying, but adds new lines about him being unappreciated. The short is a response to an episode of ''Volt'', in which the host tested the bus for its advertised comfort and it didn't pass. The host humorously ended the episode by stomping on the stressmannetje. Following the response and the social media storm it caused, the host apologized for his actions. The second short is a commercial for the release of ''Stressmannetje - Het Spel'' in April of 2014. And the third, which reuses footage from "Parkeerstress", is a celebration of the ''Stressmannetje'' winning at the Effie Awards in June of 2015. This award is given out to notably successful marketing campaigns and the ''Stressmannetje'' won because it increased the amount of bus travellers by 15.5%.

Various ''Stressmannetje'' products were available during the campaign's run, such as a piggy bank specifically to save up for a bus ticket and the stressmannetje's voice was available as download for the [=GPS=]. The aforementioned ''Stressmannetje - Het Spel'' is a simple mobile EndlessRunningGame. For seven weeks after its release, the 500 highest scoring players were awarded a key chain dolls of the stressmannetje.

* AudienceSurrogate: The stressmannetje is an over the top but highly relatable personification of the stress of managing a car in the crowded streets of a city. For instance, where his human host still keeps his emotions inside upon hitting a parked car, the stressmannetje curls up and starts bawling.
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In the years 2012-2014, De Lijn, a Flemish bus & tram service, had a marketing campaign built around a cute and tiny doll. This doll is the stressmannetje ("(little) stress guy") and he represents the stress automobilists experience while maneuvering through the city. The two commercials at the heart of the campaign put him and his human host in a rapid succession of relatably frustrating, traffic-related situations to which the end message is to leave your stress (the doll) at home by taking the bus. The ''Stressmannetje'' has won many prizes and is the most successful campaign of De Lijn to date.

The campaign gained international recognition when shortly after its launch Belgian fans uploaded a 6-second clip of the moment in "Parkeerstress" where the stressmannetje loses his euro and screams in frustration. Said scream reached MemeticMutation as "Hier Nen Euro", a slurred pronunciation of "Hier, een euro," meaning "Here, a euro."

The stressmannetje is a creation by Emma De Swaef, a director & StopMotion artist . The doll's voice is provided by Bruno Vanden Broecke. The commercials and shorts were produced by Famous while Mindshare organized the surrounding media strategy.

From 2012-2014, De Lijn, a Flemish bus & tram service, had a marketing campaign built around a cute and tiny doll. This doll is the stressmannetje ("(little) stress guy") and he represents the stress automobilists experience while maneuvering through the city. The two commercials at the heart of the campaign put him and his human host in a rapid succession of relatably frustrating, traffic-related situations to which the end message is to leave your stress (the doll) at home by taking the bus. The ''Stressmannetje'' has won many prizes and is the most successful campaign of De Lijn to date.