Darker and Edgier/Advertising

• On Digital, later ITV Digital, was an early attempt to bring digital TV to British viewers. It was advertised by Johnny Vegas and a cute little Deadpan Snarker sock puppet monkey sidekick as in this advert. It wasn't a resounding success and ITV Digital died a quite public death with a lot of recrimination and lawsuits and all that fun stuff. But the Vegas/Monkey team were so loved that they ended up becoming the mascots of a completely different product, namely PG Tips. How do you reintroduce a pair of endearing and loved characters? Like this, apparently.
• A literal example: Restoration Hardware, an upscale home furnishing chain, went from white walls, brightly lit stores, and a retro-industrial-Thirties/Forties/Fifties aesthetic to dark gray walls, very dim lights, and items with a modern/rough-edged look at some point after 2008.
• T-Mobile recently (Spring 2012) seems to trying this. Their spokeswoman, the T-Mobile Girl, before seen with only white backgrounds and wearing pink sundresses, is now being advertised as bored with the "nice, safe" life she has. She searches for, and finds, a black full-bodied motorcycle jumpsuit (with pink accents) and rides into the night on a Yamaha-looking sport bike.