Sony releases hundreds of bunnies in New York

Sony has unveiled its latest Bravia TV ad - and it is hoping 200 plasticine bunnies hopping through New York will eclipse its clips featuring bouncing balls and exploding paint.

The TV advert, called "Play-doh", which follows in the footsteps of the mesmerising "Balls" and explosive "Paint" adverts, uses the same technique, "claymation", used in Chicken Run and the Wallace and Gromit movies.



A team of 40 animators spent three weeks choreographing the models to create the 100,000 still images required to produce the 60-second ad.

Other effects included creating a 200 square foot purple plasticine wave and making a whale "swim" through the streets of Manhattan - all while locals went about their daily lives.



"Technically this is the most difficult thing I have ever done," said the ad's director, Frank Budgen. "It is an incredibly difficult situation to control. You have New Yorkers wandering through frames and you have no say over it because we're doing it for real."

The TV ad, created by ad agency Fallon London, was first shown on TV last night.

Update: There's a video showing the making of the commercial here.