It's all change for baseball cap clad glove wearing rodent Chuck E Cheese, with the news that the much loved mascot will be ditching the attire and instead re-inventing himself as a rock star . Well, it worked for David Bowie. Chuck is of course the face of the pizza chain of the same name, a new appearance for him is being teased by its parent company CEC Entertainment which has started posting pictures up on his Facebook profile of the critter as just a silhouette, captioned with messages like "You've never seen Chuck E. rock like this!"
The Los Angeles Times reports that the company will be unveiling the new image for its campaign tomorrow with reports suggesting that Bowling For Soup singer Jaret Reddick will be providing the voice of the rat. It's not the first time Chuck E. Cheese's has had a makeover. Back when the chain was named Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre, having been launched in 1977, the mascot was a rat in a bowler hat and bow-tie, wielding a cane.
The move is partly down to the chain's struggling fortunes post-recession. In its first quarter for 2012, it reported that same-store sales had slumped 4.2 per cent whilst net income had slid 5.2 per cent, compared to the similar time frame last year. So a change is needed, or else the rat will be headed down the gutter.