The largest weathervane ever seen in the UK has been unveiled at Ness Point in Lowestoft, Suffolk. The mega structure measures a staggering 21ft by 11ft and follows a long held British tradition of vanes being used to predict weather patterns from the direction of the wind.
Kellogg’s, an iconic cereal brand since 1906, created the installation, which features its brand mascot, Cornelius, who has had an epic 3D makeover for the first time. Four times the height of an average human and bigger than a giraffe, the huge, fully functional weathervane was erected at the most easterly point in the UK where the sun rises first in the morning.
The structure was revealed alongside a new Kellogg’s study which found that Brits spend an average of nine minutes a day talking about the weather, which equates to over two full days a year and 146 days over an average lifetime.
The study of 2,000 UK adults found the most common time people talk about the weather is in the morning, with it being the top topic of conversation at the breakfast table (25%) ahead of conversations about the news (21%) and work (20%). A fifth of Brits (21%) admit that they end up discussing the weather multiple times a day.
The weathervane features Kellogg’s mascot and breakfast icon, Cornelius the Cockerel, who alone measures 10ft tall. At 67 years old, Cornelius has adorned Kellogg’s Corn Flakes boxes since 1958.
A team of expert sculptors and engineers were enlisted to bring him to life which took over two months to finish. The structure of the Weathervane was created from steel and the body of Cornelius was hand-carved and painted using a range of materials, with extra attention to detail to capture his cheeky personality and swagger.
Once complete, Cornelius was carefully fixed on top of the steel structure and installed at Ness Point, where he can move and face the direction of the wind, just like a traditional weathervane.
With cockerels symbolising the start of a new day in a pre-alarm clock era, it made sense for Kellogg’s iconic mascot to symbolise the start of its very own new dawn.
Jenn Carkner, VP, of Kellogg’s Cereal, said: “Kellogg’s has been waking up the world with its cereals since 1906 so we get that mornings are different for everyone. We are launching a campaign to celebrate the uniqueness of mornings and what better way to welcome a brand-new day than with a totally unique and show-stopping weathervane, topped by our legendary mascot Cornelius in all his glory.”
Cornelius’ role as cereal mascot is being taken one step further as he becomes the official brand mascot for the Kellogg’s Masterbrand – and has been brought to life in 3D as a fully developed character for the very first time in a new TV advertising campaign.
The ad opens with Cornelius strutting confidently through the city streets, with effortless swagger, catching the attention of passers-by, and set to a soundtrack of Jurassic 5’s classic hip hop track Jayou. Cornelius has been concepted and developed with cutting-edge animation by Framestore – the multi–Academy Award-winning studio behind major global hits like Paddington and Harry Potter.
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