After a 20-year hiatus from television advertising, budget hotel chain Travelodge will make a return this week with Mr Sleep and the Zzzz Squad. Featuring a gang of cuddly toys, the new commercials aim to focus on the fact that Travelodge is the affordable place to stay for those looking to get a good night’s sleep.

Rival budget brand, Premier Inn, makes a similar claim using comedian Lenny Henry to get the point across. However, Lenny’s latest commercial has been banned from children’s television by the Advertising Standards Authority for being too disturbing for younger viewers.

Travelodge, however, has aimed its new campaign directly at children. Mr Sleep and his friends will be seen tackling situations which could potentially disturb a guest’s stay as part of the hotel’s ‘Sleep Tight’ campaign.

Travelodge managing director, Guy Parsons, said that they had deliberately shied away from featuring a celebrity in the commercials, which will also be run in the print media. He said that the ads were meant to be funny and warm, unlike the commercial which features Lenny Henry smashing down a hotel room door with an axe.

Parsons said that Travelodge had been looking for the type of commercial which comparethemarket.com has come up with. He said that everyone knew who Aleksandr Orlov the meerkat was, and that he would like something similar to happen with Mr Sleep and his pals. Travelodge has also admitted that it is in talks with a toy manufacturer about making the Mr Sleep characters available for sale as cuddly toys.