The Adman

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YouTube video by Dose of Good Ads Canal+『the Silver Hand』

This fabulous 2014 ad for Canal+ Digital, the Scandinavian pay-TV and internet service, takes FOMO to the next level. Created by Oslo agency Try/Apt, 'The Silver Hand' is a hilarious take on how wrong life can go if you miss that one show that everyone’s talking about.

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YouTube video by Uber Eats Brian Cox Goes to College - Full Length | Uber One

‘Brian Cox Goes to College’ was the 2024 launch ad for Uber One for Students, which offers free food one day a week. The idea’s simple - the offer’s so good that everybody wants to be a student, even a 78-year-old actor.

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Look at the copy on this press ad for Citroen. The copywriter added his name - read the first letter of every sentence.

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RIP Dame Patricia Routledge has passed away. Best known for her comedy role as Hyacinth Bucket (“the Bucket woman”) in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, Routledge appeared in several ad campaigns over the years, including the RAC, British Gas, and this ad for TV Licensing in 1995.

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YouTube video by VHS Video vault Don't Put A Rug On a Polished Floor

A slightly bizarre British public information film from 1974, titled ‘The Fatal Floor’. Created by the Central Office of Information, it warns about the threat posed by combining a rug and a freshly polished floor. “Polish a floor, put a rug on it, you might as well set a man trap.”

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YouTube video by kittytrail Maxwell House Coffee "Hats" Ad from 1971 featuring Shakira Baksh, the future Ms. Michael Caine.

This ad for Maxwell House Coffee, titled ‘Hats’, was shot by Ridley Scott in 1971. It features Guyanese actress and Miss World contestant Shakira Baksh. Actor Michael Caine saw the ad and became obsessed with finding her. The couple have been happily married for 52 years.

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As the Labour Party conference comes to a close, with many commentators predicting that a leadership contest may be on the cards, let’s remember this fabulous 1981 ad for Olympus.
Created by CDP, the ad captured arch-rivals Tony Benn and Denis Healey at the party conference that year.

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You could hear the clunking of diplomatic jaws dropping as Donald Trump once again denied climate change, calling it the "greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world". The big fossil fuel firms would agree - since the 1980s they've run ads touting that very message.

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YouTube video by bp Britain at its Best TV advert

The ‘BP. Britain at its best’ campaign ran during the late 1970s and early 80s. Created by Saatchi & Saatchi for British Petroleum (BP), the corporate campaign highlighted BP's - and by implication Britain’s - successes, showcasing its contributions to British and global industry.

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YouTube video by Robert Wong google's first tv ad

Google celebrated its 27th birthday by displaying its old logo on the home page. Whilst Google earns a mind-boggling amount from ad revenue, it famously avoiding advertising itself until 2010, when it ran "Parisian Love" during the Super Bowl.

#advertising #google

YouTube video by Deirdre Maxwell Maxwell House advert 1994. We don't like change, do we Deirdre?

Came across this 1994 ad for Maxwell House instant coffee. ‘Next Door’ was created by Ogilvy & Mather. The sound’s not great but worth sticking it out for the punchline “We don't like change, do we Deirdre?”
Maxwell House was named in honour of the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville.

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YouTube video by FRED & FARID Martini - Luck Is An Attitude - FRED & FARID Paris

This 2011 ad for Martini, titled ‘Luck is an Attitude’, tells a fun story with split screen. What made it interesting to me was the casting. Yuri Buzzi was chosen through a talent search on Facebook called “The Kisser Casting” - the winner could kiss 10 women and be paid €150,000.

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That time someone said, "Oh you're one of those science is right idiots" to me and I just knew in their head they were actually using "your" and not "you're".

YouTube video by The FAB Awards The 19th FAB Awards: Maltesers - The Light Side of Disability (Sign Language)

Yesterday was International Day of Sign Languages, celebrated annually to raise awareness of the importance of sign language. Reminds me of this ad for Maltesers, part of their "Look on the Light Side of Disability" campaign which aired during the 2016 Paralympic Games on Channel 4.

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YouTube video by dewolfemusic UK's First Television Advert - Gibbs SR Toothpaste

Television advertising in the UK began on this day, 22nd September 1955, exactly 70 years ago with the launch of ITV, the first commercial channel and competitor for the BBC.

The first ever British TV commercial was for Gibbs SR toothpaste. In B&W of course.

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Quite enlightening

It's the big steel balls!

YouTube video by breidholt pot noodles vindaloo

This brilliantly juvenile ad for Pot Noodles Vindaloo was created by Mother back in 2002. Just 20 seconds but it always makes me laugh out loud. The Johnny Cash music track is genius of course.

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YouTube video by Tony Williams Lotto Instant Kiwi - exam

One that’s been flying around the internet for years. This 1999 New Zealand ad for the Instant Kiwi Scratchcard, featuring actor Daniel Gillies, was created by Saatchi and Saatchi NZ.

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How clever is this? In the UK, where we drive on the left, some car rental companies give you a wristband for your left wrist to remind you to drive on the correct side of the road.

YouTube video by The Hall of Advertising E*TRADE - Wazoo (2000, USA)

In 2000, during Super Bowl XXXIV, E*TRADE ran two ads in the same game, incl. this one, 'Out the Wazoo'.
Two completely different ads (making money and wasting money) but with one message - that ‘ordinary people’ can (and should) be investing…and E*TRADE makes it easy.
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YouTube video by The Hall of Advertising E*TRADE - Monkey (2000, USA)

In 2000, during Super Bowl XXXIV, E*TRADE ran two ads in the same game, incl. this one, 'Monkey' (aka 'Monerky', a play on the words money and monkey).
Two completely different ads but with one message - that ‘ordinary people’ can (and should) be investing…and E*TRADE makes it easy.

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Closest I’d ever get to owning a LearJet.

YouTube video by stig114 Pearl and Dean 1970s

Most Brits recognise and happily sing along to the iconic Pearl & Dean ident. Created by Joe Morris, an in-house ad exec at Pearl & Dean, in the 1960s. The accompanying theme tune, titled "Asteroid" (but known across the land as "pa-pa pa, pa-pa pa...") was composed by Pete Moore.

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Today is International Day of Democracy, established by the UN General Assembly in 2007 to encourage the promotion of democracy. It’s not going so well!
I'm reminded of this campaign for Ken Livingstone, who fought the abolition of the GLC in 1984 with the slogan "SAY NO TO NO SAY".

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YouTube video by Lol_Lol_Laugh Before You Leave, Switch Off The Lights ! 🤠💀

A terrific ad from Tallinn, Estonia, made in 1988 during Glasnost when Estonia was still part of the USSR. Titled “Kustuta valgus” (“Switch off the lights”), the film won a Bronze Lion at Cannes, a rare achievement as few ads from the USSR were ever entered.

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