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Figliulo&Partners, who partnered with Sprint in November, have just launched the new integrated campaign called the “Frobinsons,” promoting the Sprint Family plan, a new pricing plan allowing consumers to decide who they consider family.

“The American family has changed. Our families today are more than our relatives, but also our friends, our neighbors – basically all the people we love,”explains Jeff Hallock, Sprint’s chief marketing officer.

The “Frobinsons” campaign, which was created in partnership with DigitasLBi and MediaVest, will unfold as an episodic story over the coming months and, we’re told we can expect “surprising cameos from stars of sports, music, screen and stage” in the future. For now, the campaign has launched with two, 30-second spots introducing the framily Frobinsons. The first, “Meet the Frobinsons” introduces all the different friends and family making up the group, as well as the word “framily” itself, and should give us an idea what to expect from Figliulo&Partners in the future. The Frobinsons, we learn in the spot, are a strange bunch. There’s the daughter, constantly surrounded by animated birds, who appears to only speak French. Then there’s the son with the southern accent who spends his time crafting miniatures.

Strangest of all, though, is the father, a hamster voiced by Andrew Dice Clay who objects the “framily” term. Yeah, a hamster. Obviously they’re going for the “families come in all shapes and sizes” message here, but is having a hamster dad really the way to go about this? The mother is presented as the sane voice of reason in the group, despite the fact that she is married to a frucking hamster. “Framily Portrait” spends some time examining each member of the extended framily, including a few characters you don’t meet in “Meet the Frobinsons.” The characters (especially the new additions) in the spot and the way they’re presented give “Framily Portrait” a quirky Wes Anderson quality, probably the direction this campaign will take going forward.

The two broadcast spots will air tonight across national network and cable TV, with an angry rant from One Million Moms expected by the end of the week. In addition to broadcast the campaign also includes “in-store along with a number of digital and social extensions,” with print and out-of-home extensions of the campaign in the coming weeks. Stick around for “Framily Portrait” after the jump. continued…

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