The Adman

Remember those CAPS!

I see that Trump yesterday revoked the Obama-era scientific ruling that greenhouse gases endanger public health, calling climate change a "hoax" and a "con job".

Takes us right back to the early days of climate denial. This ad for Humble Oil (now ExxonMobil) appeared in 1962.

#advertising

An interesting ad from Greenpeace, that was released in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Created by Hallelujah Amsterdam, Netherlands.

#advertising

If you knew how seriously Canadians take hockey, you’d appreciate just how much fun this ad is.

Created for Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd in 1999, you can’t help but love it. Complete with Shirley Bassey belting out "This is my life".

(Sorry about the poor quality).

#advertising

If you knew how seriously Canadians take hockey, you’d appreciate just how much fun this ad is.

Created for Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd in 1999, you can’t help but love it. Complete with Shirley Bassey belting out "This is my life".

(Sorry about the poor quality).

#advertising

Not recommended for children under six.

Here’s a fun ad from 2004 for "La chaîne du crime" (The Crime Channel) in France.

Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. Originally known as Military Patrol, it was one of the events in the inaugural 1924 Winter Olympic Games. Switzerland won the Gold.

#advertising

I just watched ast night’s Super Bowl LX ads and one stood out. It was for Instacart, and it’s ridiculously entertaining. Directed by Spike Jonze and starring actor Ben Stiller and Benson Boone, who play a moustachioed, bickering disco-pop duo.

#advertising #SuperBowl

A large stuffed folder of files with the title “Epstein” is seen with what looks, at first glance, like a red page marker sticking out of the bottom. On closer inspection it is the bottom of a Trump red neck tie. French newspapers once again showing the kind of basic journalistic integrity lacking from most US national newspapers - whose collective negligence has helped ensure a man implicated in the world’s most notorious sex trafficking ring gets to remain President. That the orange pedo felon remains in office is a plague on all their houses. Cunts, one and all.

The cartoon that appeared this week on the front page of France’s most influential national newspaper, Le Monde

Brilliant work by the cartoonist, Guffo.

With the Winter Olympics very much in mind, here's a glorious Martini spoof from 1988, part of the famous campaign by Dutch insurance company Centraal Beheer. The premise is simple - no matter the crisis, just call us (“Even Apeldoorn bellen”).

#advertising

Anyone who grew up in the 1970s will remember the Martini ads and the glamour that they evoked. Martini didn’t just sell vermouth, it sold the sun-drenched sophistication of European après-ski culture, with all of us singing along to its "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere" jingle.

#advertising

With the Winter Olympics kicking off today, let’s remember this wonderful 1979 ad for Cinzano, created by CDP and directed by Hugh Hudson. The Cinzano campaign ran from 1978 to '83 and paired comedy genius Leonard Rossiter with actress Joan Collins.

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The 2026 Winter Olympics, officially the XXV Winter Olympic Games, starts today. The very first Winter Games took place in 1924, held in Chamonix, France. This was the official poster, painted by Auguste Matisse, depicting an eagle soaring above the bobsleigh track.

#advertising

You know that feeling when you’ve just binge-watched a show?

In 2018, Droga 5 captured that exact feeling with their brilliant ‘Great Shows Stay With You’ campaign to promote the Amazon Prime Video streaming service.

It's a lot of fun - the scene in the elevator is pure gold.

#advertising

The Milkybar Kid is strong and tough…

In 1961 an advertising legend was born when the Milkybar Kid first appeared in TV ads. He was a blond, bespectacled kid, dressed as a cowboy who saves the day before shouting "The Milkybars are on me!" The McCann Erickson campaign ran for decades.

#advertising

Robert Warren was a leading manufacturer of blacking (shoe polish) in the 19th century. Advertising back then consisted of text-heavy notices in newspapers.

But the Warren’s campaign had an idea. Illustrations showed animals bristling at their own reflection in a newly shined shoe.

#advertising

Today, 2nd February, is National Hedgehog Day in the UK (Groundhog Day in the US). The day is rooted in ancient Roman folklore, where hedgehogs were used to predict spring.
Reminds me of this brilliantly simple German print ad for Volkswagen to promote its Park Assist function.

#advertising

I’ve always adored this 1987 ‘Tate by Tube’ poster, commissioned as part of the ‘Art on the Underground’ campaign (all Londoners call it “The Tube”), which aimed to revive the historic tradition of poster art in the London transport network. Designed by David Booth.

#advertising

An ad from 1946 explaining the benefits of X-ray shoe fitting offered at the Rochester Sample Shoe Store. Hmmm.

Very sad to read that Canadian actress Catherine O'Hara has passed away. Her panicked scream of "Kevin!" in Home Alone as she realises she’s forgotten her 8-year-old son remains an unforgettable moment, one she reprised in a Chase Freedom Unlimited ad alongside Kevin Hart in 2021.

#CatherineOHara

I love this fabulous 1992 ad for Dutch insurance company Centraal Beheer, part of a long-running and hugely popular campaign. It deservedly won a Cannes Gold Lion.

The premise is simple - if you find yourself scrambling for a lifeboat, just call us (“Even Apeldoorn bellen”).

#advertising

I don't think it's possible to get any more 70s than this. Tell me I'm wrong.

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The ‘Crows’ campaign by GGT for the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) ran in the early 1990s.
Inspired by the idea that Docklands is “closer to London as the crow flies”, it reportedly offended the Kray twins, notorious East End gangsters.

#advertising

Today, 27th January, is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Last year, 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenhau and Bergen-Belsen, Spain’s History Channel (Canal de Historia) ran a series of eye-opening ads to commemorate the milestone.

#remember

Do you remember this lovely little ad from 10 years ago?
Created by Joint London, 'Little Friend' promoted Amazon Prime's One-Day Delivery, helping the little chap out when the big horses are mean. The soundtrack, Sonny and Cher’s ‘Little Man’, was inspired.

#advertising

Happy Sunday!

Maybe you’re off to church this morning. You wouldn’t be alone - according to recent surveys, UK church attendance has recently shown signs of a "quiet revival". Reminds me of this ad created 20 years ago for (but not by) British churches by Fallon.

#advertising

Ring in the High Holidays With These 21 Jewish Recipes Ring in the High Holidays with our 21 best Jewish recipes, from kugel to matzo ball soup to honey cake.

Ring in the High Holidays with our 21 best Jewish recipes, from kugel to matzo ball soup to honey cake.

A campaign I worked on at Publicis back in 2004 for McVitie’s Digestives. They’re called ‘Digestive’ biscuits because they were originally created in 1839 by two Scottish doctors who added sodium bicarbonate to the recipe, believing its antacid properties would help with digestion.

#advertising

“Go before I strike you”.

Possibly the best ad that wasn’t an ad. An iconic scene in the 1975 British-Spanish comedy film Spanish Fly, starring Terry-Thomas and his long-suffering butler, played by actor Graham Armitage. If this can’t sell tonic, then nothing ever will.

#advertising

Not for vegetarians.