Casper gives a familiar mattress promise a character shoppers already know, right down to his nightcap.

I get a kick out of Johnny Depp.

Foibles and all, he’s one of our most inventive actors, and I’m looking forward to Ebenezer despite having seen countless regurgitations of the Dickens story I read eons ago.

(Check out the trailer.)

Casper has a theory about its famously miserable protagonist: maybe ol’ Scrooge only needed a better mattress.

Its Paramount partnership runs with “The more you snooze, the less you Scrooge,” complete with a Humbug Hush Cap.

Image: Casper

Which takes me straight (or maybe convolutedly) to The Naked Gun. Offered a nightcap, Leslie Nielsen’s Frank Drebin replies, “No, thank you, I don’t wear them.”

Well, I’ve always secretly wanted one.

Having worked in the sleep space, I know how difficult differentiation can be.

Add the small bedding brands poppin’ up everywhere, and another promise about comfort has plenty of company.

Casper gives that promise a character we already understand. We can picture Scrooge’s expression without anyone explaining what a lousy night might do to a person’s disposition.

Scrooge shows up this year with nearly two centuries of character development in the can.

Casper bought the honour of making the connection between that vile, miserable man and the mattress underneath him, via the new Depp film.

Better sleep is table stakes in every mattress brand’s schtick.

Casper wants to attach that benefit to a joke shoppers might recall when they’re ready to replace their mattress.

That’s the sort of work behind I Need That: helping customers mentally connect a product to something important in their own lives.

Casper still has to deliver on the sleep, but the campaign’s job is to make it one of the names shoppers consider before comparing mattresses.

And it’s got me considering a ridiculous little hat.

If you’d like help creating and marketing products people feel compelled to buy, the product marketing consultants at Graphos Product can help.