Friday Fun – 14 Jingles You Might Not Remember If You Are Under 28
Image Credit – http://www.flickr.com/photos/beigephotos/
After last weeks Friday Fun post about awesome tunes from the 1980’s, we decided to continue with the nostalgic theme.
This time we decided to travel back in time and bring to the attention of anyone under the age of 28 the way advertisers would try to capture our attention.
What follows are our favourite television adverts / jingles from the 1980s – we hope you enjoy them as much as we did.
1. John Smith – Disco Trousers
There were some fantastic adverts in the 1980s, none more so than the one’s produced by the breweries competing for our attention.
The advert above was one of a number of ads produced to the Jonah Lewie Christmas hit “Stop the Cavalry“. They were ALL awesome but this one sticks in mind more than most (and sadly we sang along to every word despite not seeing this for over 25 years!).
Having said that – the way Lulu dances is almost certainly questionable in this day and age.
2. The Leeds – Liquid Gold
Another advert with a memorable jingle – this time by the Leeds Building Society.
The actor George Cole, who at the time was at the height of his acting career (in many people’s opinions) starring alongside Dennis Waterman in Minder, starred in the advert. Keep your eyes out for the interest rate on the Liquid Gold account – what would people give for THAT in 2012!
3. Smith’s Potatos
An early 80s advert from Smith’s potatoes, produced to the tune of Bobby’s Girl (a song from 1962 by Marcie Blane).
For those of you who are NLP practitioners (Neuro Linguistic Programming) – we would ask if this is an early example of trying to hit a target audience of 25-30 year olds? Or were we being programmed to buy them in the future by having singing potato “characters”?
4. Hamlet Cigars – Photo Booth
“Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet” – or so the advert tried to convince us.
The photo booth advert starred comedian Gregor Fisher, better known in the 80s as Rab C Nesbitt. There were a series of Hamlet adverts each not revealing themselves to be a “funny” advert until the very end.
The music played at the end of each advert was Bach’s Air On A G String.
5. Cadbury – A Finger Of Fudge
One of the earliest adverts we can ever remember as a child – we absolutely loved the finger of fudge commercial.
A simple jingle that has probably stayed with many people aged 35 and above:
“A finger of fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat,
A finger of fudge is just enough until it’s time to eat,
It’s full of “cadbury” (although we are convinced it says peppery) goodness and very small and neat,
A finger of fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat”.
Love it!
6. Scotch Video Tapes
Just one question – in the advert we are told the Scotch Tape comes with a “lifetime guarantee” – which states that they will replace your old tapes with a new one if your recordings (on top of other recordings) don’t look as good as the first time you recorded them.
What would happen if we tried to take one back now? The voice over at the end of the advert says we can “watch the tapes forever”. We might be writing to the advertising standards agency about them claim!
7. Um Bongo
Apparently they drink it in the congo – or at least that is what we are led to believe from another massively memorable jingle.
How Um Bongo was created:
Hippo – Apricot, Guava & Mango. Also partakes in a “dainty tango”.
Python – Passion Fruit.
Marmoset – Mandarin.
Parrot – Tasked with the graphic design and colours of the packaging.
Rhino – Brand name creator.
8. Bisto -Never In A Month Of Sundays
Bisto are still known for their “family” adverts, but this one was before Lynda Bellingham became the face of “mum” in the Bisto adverts.
We think the adverts ran through until 1985 and this advert was part of a series that included the “never in a month of Sundays” jingle.
For this one Dad wishes for a self cleaning car (don’t we all), can’t put up shelves, we have a parrot that won’t speak and a young lady that seems to be served her Sunday roast whilst sat on the stairs!
9. Coco Pops
When you compare this advert from 1982 to the Coco Pops adverts of 2012 – you can see just how things have changed over the last 30 years.
It would appear in 1982 that coming up with as many rhyming words as you could for “coco pops” was all you needed to do to get ahead in marketing. These days you need to create secret layers, good vs bad, a crocodile bond villain and awesome gadgetry just to grab the attention of today’s youngsters.
10. Carling Black Label – “He doesn’t wash his underpants”
Back in the 80s, a very buff Nick Kamen was wooing women in a Levi Jeans advert by walking into a laundrette, stripping down to his boxer shorts and waiting for his clothes to wash.
Carling Black Label decided to “riff” this advert with his “performance” dismissed by two middle aged blokes asking the question “I bet he drinks Carling Black Label” with the fantastic reply of “Nah, he doesn’t wash his underpants” – cue the camera panning around the side of the washing machines to reveal our two observers sitting in the nude!
11. Kelloggs Bran Flakes – They’re Very Tasty
Starring Belinda Lang from 2point4 children and George Kaye from Allo Allo, this is our version of the “Go Compare” adverts of today.
A really short annoying jingle, but one which stuck with anyone who watched the advert once.
12. Birdseye – Steakhouse Grills
“Will it be chips or jacket spuds? Will it be salad or frozen peas? Will it be mushrooms, or fried onion rings?
These are the questions posed by a group of “workers” – we will assume builders since one is driving with a hard hat on (not sure why you need a hard hat when driving but we assume more NLP at work).
13. Country Life Butter – You Can’t Put A Better Bit Of Butter On Your Knife
In 2012 Country Life rely on John Lydon from the Sex Pistols to tell us all about how fantastic their butter is, and leaving us with the thought that “It isn’t about Great Britain, it’s about Great Butter”.
Back in the 1980s, it was left to a block of butter that turned into a set of singing figures, to tell us that we couldn’t put a better bit of butter on our knife.
We know which our money is on for the strap line that will be remembered for the longest period of time. (Hint, it’s not John Lydon’s version).
14. Toshiba – Hello Tosh Got A Toshiba
Last on our list (but by no means least) is probably the most “technical” of all our adverts.
Catchy Jingle (Check).
Visually Stimulating (Check)
Cutting Edge (at the time) (Check).
BONUS VIDEO – Now That’s What I Call Music
NOW 83 – is just about to be released – however THIS was the ORIGINAL album that started the whole series.
There were two adverts at the time (1983) one featuring a rather dull voice over from Tracey Ullman and this one.
We didn’t want to put this with the others because in all honesty it’s not very good – however it IS an iconic advert for an unbelievable “franchise” that has lasted for almost 30 years.
Which adverts from this period did we miss? Are there any of your favourites you would love to see included?
Please feel free to leave your comments below.
