Classic Adverts

[Kaybee Bailey]

Hi everyone! I've spent the last few days filling in application forms for a couple of advertising related jobs, and a couple of them have asked me to talk about my favourite ad campaigns or brands I admire for their strategy. With the joys of YouTube available now the research part has been quite good fun, and I've been fortunate enough to see such things as Paul Daniels being mauled by a lion for the sake of Heinekken, the famous 'Hi Sue!' WKD ad and various entertaining Guiness ads. The theme seems to be that all my favourite adverts are for alcohol. So help me out... what are the best adverts all about? Are the funny ones the best or does nostalgia sell to you?

[Pip Madeley]

The Honey Monster was alright until he ripped off the Boosh.

http://www.honeymonster.co.uk/blog/

Jokey jokey, didn't see it coming,
Jokey jokey, Honey Monster, get away! I kill you!

[Wayne]

Hi Kaybee,
I loved the Cadbury's Smash Martians when i was a kid, & nostalgia renders it as still my favourite ad of all time.
They did at least 3 versions of it, but you only ever see the very first one on these nostalgia tv progs, & never the 'sequels'.
I never thought to look on YouTube. Must have a look later.

[Wayne]

They did at least 3 versions of it, but you only ever see the very first one on these nostalgia tv progs, & never the 'sequels'.
I never thought to look on YouTube. Must have a look later.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zbU2PY8PI9w

[Captain Tancredi]

It's just a theory, but I think some of the most memorable adverts and campaigns have been where restrictions on advertising the product has forced the advertisers to be imaginative- everybody still remembers the bit of Bach from the Hamlet cigar ads, even though it's about 15 years since they were allowed to advertise tobacco on TV. Similarly, Guinness have developed a distinctive style basically using the colours of a pint of Guinness as a palette and being witty one time and arty the next.

The other thing that occurs to me is the way that some campaigns play with somebody's public image- like the ads Gary Lineker does for Walkers where half the idea is based on the idea that he's really a greedy heartless so-and-so in contrast to his clean-cut image (although it also has the other aspect that Walkers are a big employer in Leicester so they picked a local celebrity as their public face).

You could probably do worse than take a look at some of the features on BBC4 supporting 'Mad Men' - I think some of them are still being repeated in the small hours.

[Kaybee Bailey]

Good link there Wayne, I'd only ever seen two of the Smash ads, but they were fantastic. My mum also maintains that they are the best ads ever, and nearly fell off her chair earlier while laughing like the martians.

Ian, I think I agree about restrictions on advertising demanding more of the campaigns. Although more and more alcohol producers don't run TV campaigns anymore, it will be a shame if they die out or even get banned completely. I did see a few episodes of 'The Hard Sell' which was run as part of the 'Mad Men' nights, and while it was informative I found some of the talking heads a bit tedious... first time in my life that I've wanted the programme to end and more adverts in a show!

Phil... I find the Honey Monster a bit scary, but I think that's just because he reminds me of The Muppets!

[Rob McCow]

Possibly the best advert of all time is the Kit-Kat advert where the nature-watcher has his camera out, ready to take a photo. He stops to eat a Kit-Kat... and immediately two pandas burst out of hiding, dance around their enclosure and then go back into their hut just before the photographer turns round.

It's funny because its pandas.

[Si Hunt]

Even though they were very calculated, I always enjoyed the BT ads with Maureen Lipman and the Tesco ads with Dotty and Jane Horrocks.

They were good because they were almost mini-TV serials - they invented characters and then invited you back to follow them later on.

Si.

[Rob McCow]

they invented characters and then invited you back to follow them later on

Yes, but they did only ever go to Tescos.

It was quite strange that for a few years of her life, Hyacinth Bucket (as played by Patricia Routledge) became absolutely obsessed with having comfortable loo paper. As though she'd moved from 'Keeping Up Appearances' to 'Wiping Up Appearances'.

[Andrew Curnow]

I used to like the "If you see Sid tell him" ones from when they were privatising British Gas back in, ooh, 85? 86?

Currently I'm enjoying the Kris Marshall (and yes, I only know his name because of the accident he had last week) BT ads - although that's more to do with his very attractive co-star, rather than the ads themselves.

[Andrew Curnow]

And then there's this: Chocodooby

[Pip Madeley]

That was just plain odd.

[Kaybee Bailey]

Suddenly the Honey Monster doesn't seem so scary!

Does anyone ever wonder when Kris Marshall's character is going to realise that the girl is just using him to get free childcare and broadband?

[Jeff]

Don't know if they show this one across the pond or not...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhiFfOTe-R0


Then of course there's this one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDG9N9kMlGs

[Captain Tancredi]

Is this why we had to stop calling them Opal Fruits???

[Jeff]

Is this why we had to stop calling them Opal Fruits???

Here's what wiki says:

Starburst were introduced by Mars in 1960[1] as Opal Fruits. The four original flavors were strawberry, lemon, orange, and lime. Opal Fruits were introduced in the United States in 1976[1] as Starburst. Though Starburst originally came in the same flavors as Opal Fruits, Cherry replaced Lime in the early 1980s; and the first variant, "Sunshine Flavors" Later renamed "Tropical Opal Fruits", was released. In Europe, lemon and lime were combined to become "lemon and lime" and to make room for a blackcurrant flavor. The brand Opal Fruits was phased out in the UK, followed by Ireland in 1998 in order to standardize the product in a globalized marketplace, though some lament the loss of brand identity, leaving many people in the UK still referring to Starburst as Opal Fruits despite the name change.

[Captain Tancredi]

Curse the globalised marketplace. What's the globe ever done for us anyway?

[Dirk Gently]

The same fate as "Jif" lemon cleaner, which is now "Cif" & why Marathon's are now Snickers.

[Ralph]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lK1wkuT3Is

I'm a bit biased here - ahhh the nostalgia of it all