Bing chosen to front first-of-its-kind initiative across Italy

London, 5 June 2023 – Bing, Acamar Films’ award-winning global pre-school hit animation has been selected to front a new campaign from the Italian Society of Paediatrics and nursery trade association, Assonidi. The campaign, Healthy Habits for Children, the first of its kind to be launched by the national medical body, will help support grown-ups and children in their everyday lives over the coming years.

Bing shares the small stories that can make a big difference in the lives of young children as Bing encounters unexpected experiences and emotions with patient and reassuring Flop by his side. Bing is currently the most popular pre-school series on the Rai Play digital platform. The Italian Society of Paediatrics and Assonidi recognise the ways in which Bing supports children’s emotional and social development; Bing being inspired by Montessori principles aligns with their mission of promoting the health and well-being of children in Italy. 

The Healthy Habits for Children campaign will mean that Bing and his friends will be present to guide and encourage young children to adopt recommended habits. From coping with change to visiting the doctor, resources, clips and activities featuring Bing will be available to support children during what could be an unknown and frightening new experience. Healthy daily routines such as drinking water and playing outside will also be part of Healthy Habits for Children with the inclusion of Bing making those activities more engaging.

“We are honoured to have our efforts recognised by the Italian Society of Paediatrics and Assonidi. We work tirelessly to ensure that our Bing episodes truly reflect the authentic lives of young children, and support healthy growth and development. Millions of Italian families have welcomed Bing into their cherished daily routines, so to see our show and its characters lead this incredibly important and long-running campaign, set to support families across Italy, really is fantastic.” said Mikael Shields, CEO Acamar Films.

Several key topics will be covered through the partnership with assets to support grown-ups and children. Themes such as outdoor play, coping with change, bedtime routines and anxieties visiting the doctors will all be included in the campaign. The first theme, Growing with Bing, launching in June 2023, focuses on nutrition, supporting families on the importance of fruit and vegetables in a child’s diet, and why drinking water and milk is so important.

“We are happy that a character as loved by children as Bing can become, thanks to this campaign, an ‘ambassador’ of lifestyles to help our children and grandchildren grow up healthy and become healthy adults. This partnership with Acamar and Assonidi is an important step towards the realisation of our mission: to promote the psychophysical health of children and their social well-being,’ says Annamaria Staiano, President of the Italian Society of Paediatrics.

Families, doctors and teachers will have access to Bing-themed recipe cards, activity sheets and videos with approved messaging from the Italian Society of Paediatrics. These resources will be distributed via Assonidi to all their 400 associated nurseries and families within the nurseries, as well as in the Italian Society of Paediatrics’ doctors surgeries. The Italian Society of Paediatrics has a network of 11,000 paediatricians who work in hospitals and surgeries and in universities throughout the country. Campaign resources will also be available to download in late summer at www.bingbunny.it, and shared with Bing’s 118,000 Italian Facebook followers and 1.2million Italian YouTube subscribers.

“Our network of nurseries, creches and private pre-schools will greatly benefit from the important messages from the Italian Society of Paediatrics delivered by their friend Bing. We see the popularity of Bing with our pre-schoolers everyday, and we cannot wait to offer our teachers and families additional resources to support the healthy development of children.” – Paolo Uniti, President of Assonidi. 

Bing has been phenomenally popular with Italian pre-schoolers and families since its debut in 2018, due to its multi-platform distribution strategy and a dynamic licensing programme. Italian fans can enjoy all 104 Italian episodes of Bing on top platforms like Rai Yoyo, Disney+, DeA Junior, Vodafone TV, Amazon Prime Video, and TIMVision, as well as on a dedicated Bing YouTube channel and the all-in-one Bing app, ‘Bing: Guarda, Gioca, Impara‘.

Bing was the most requested pre-school show on Rai Play in 2022. “Rai Kids collaborated closely with the Italian Society of Pediatrics during the quarantine period due to COVID, and is pleased to support this new important long term partnership which also involves Assonidi and Bing, much loved by our audience of children and families”, comments Luca Milano , Director of Rai Kids.

Bing licensing opportunities with Italy are being managed by Maurizio Distefano Licensing.