It 's Pokemon vs. the Politicians!

1 August 2000, London: Video games characters are more recognisable to Britain's youth than the country's most powerful politicians, including Tony Blair. That is the shock result of a new survey of 16-21 year olds released today by Amazon.co.uk, Britain's leading online retailer, which commissioned the research as part of the launch of its new PC and Video Games store.

When asked to identify photographs, 96% correctly named Super Mario and 93% the Pokemon character Pikachu, whereas the Prime Minister was correctly identified by only 91%. Lara Croft, pin-up heroine of the Tomb Raider games, was identified by 80% of respondents.

However, Tony Blair has a far higher profile than his cabinet colleagues. Less than one in four (24%) of 16-21 year olds recognised Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, Home Secretary Jack Straw was correctly identified by just 33%, and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook by 42%.

Other members of the cabinet fared even less well - Mo Mowlam was correctly identified by only 37% of respondents and Peter Mandelson by a meagre 18%, despite their recent high media profile. Donkey Kong, the gorilla hero of video games since the 1980s, was the least recognisable video games character at 67%, but still polled 25% higher than any cabinet member except for the Prime Minister himself.

When asked how important a role the politicians and video games characters played in their lives, despite the politicians polling higher than the video games characters, nearly one in three (29%) said that Tony Blair was either not very important or not all important to their lives. Adam Joinson, a psychologist from the Open University commented: "The survey findings show just how relevant video games are to the majority of UK teenagers - they also demonstrate how new technology is blurring our notions of celebrity and fame. Games characters are now icons in their own right."

The new Amazon.co.uk PC and Video Games stores offers the widest range of titles available, as well as almost every type of accessory you could want or need. With a host of exciting features including customer reviews, great prices and 24-hour availability on most titles, Amazon.co.uk is now the ultimate shop for all gamers and computer users.

For more information contact the Amazon.co.uk press office on 020 8636 9280.

Notes to Editors

1. Survey conducted 24-25th June 2000, 560 people interviewed by ICM Research Limited.

About Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.uk today offers more than 1.5 million books, CDs, DVDs, software titles, video games and videos, hosts online auctions and provides a complete online storefront for individual merchants through its zShops. Amazon.co.uk customers enjoy the benefits of industry-leading, online shopping technology such as secure credit-card payment; personalised recommendations; streamlined, 1-Click. ordering and hassle-free Bid-Click auction bidding. Through Amazon Anywhere, Amazon.co.uk also is available on mobile phones with WAP technology; look at www.amazon.co.uk/anywhere for details.

For more information about Amazon.co.uk, please contact:

• Fiona Murphy or
  Rebecca Woods on 0208 237 4000.