Listen Gromit, you’re top dog now

The little dog listening to an old gramophone has been one of the world’s most instantly recognisable images for 100 years.

Until now. Nipper the terrier is being replaced this week by Gromit, the Plasticine dog from the Wallace and Gromit animated series.



The original image is based on a 19th century painting by Francis Barraud. Nipper was supposed to be listening to a recording of his dead owner. Hence the name given to the picture: His Master’s Voice.

This week the HMV group is switching to Gromit. The only master’s voice he is used to is Wallace saying: “Nice cheese, Gromit.”



It is a unique marketing deal in which no money has changed hands.

HMV is to use the Gromit image in the windows of its 220 stores and in advertisements in the press and on the London Underground for the next three months as part of a collaboration with Oscar-winning Aardman Animations, the maker of Wallace and Gromit and films such as Chicken Run and Flushed Away.

The chain decided on the change to refresh its image and to attract younger customers.