A very meerkat Christmas

First there was the Aleksandr Orlov TV ad , then the fluffy toy , the "mini biopic" and now there is, inevitably, the book. That's right – Orlov, the Russian meerkat star of the Comparethemarket.com TV ads, has landed a deal with Random House. In a case of possibly one annoying brand extension too far, the publisher's subsidiary, Ebury, is to print an "autobiography" called "A Simples Life – The Life and Times of Aleksandr Orlov". The book will go on sale from 28 October and will be up against a string of Christmas autobiographies including Celine Dion's My Story, My Dream and Donald Trump's Art of the Deal. Monkey foresees a prime spot in the Christmas bargain bins for this stocking filler. Simples.