Although there have been a number of 'Buy British' campaigns, the most famous was probably the 'I'm Backing Britain' campaign of the late 1960s. It started in December 1967 when five typists from the Colt heating and ventilation organization volunteered to work for half an hour extra each day, without pay, to assist the British economy. With the ensuing publicity the idea rapidly took off and, within days, workers at other companies were doing the same. Union jacks emerged everywhere, with the government endorsing the campaign and the British press also climbing on the bandwagon. Despite this, it fizzled out in a matter of months. Labour MP Robert Maxwell then launched a rival motto - 'Buy British' and a song was created by composers Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent, recorded by Bruce Forsyth, with the chorus 'The feeling is growing, so let's keep it going, the good times are blowing our way'. However, it sold only 7,319 copies and the T-shirts printed for the campaign were discovered to have been made in Portugal!

 

Following this 'false start', British advertising started to concentrate on finding a 'British voice', abandoning the pseudo-American adverts and the posh-sounding 50s-style annunciations. Television in particular looked to adverts that were memorable because they could be related to by the general public and not just because they had a tacky jingle. It is notable that a large number of the 'best ever' TV adverts from the '100 Best' were created during this period.

The origins of this 'new' style of advertising are largely credited to CDP (Collett Dickenson Pearce), a Soho-based, British-owned advertising agency who, at that time, employed young men who were later to achieve more wide-reaching fame: David Puttnam, Ridley and Tony Scott, Adrian Lyne, Alan Parker, Charles and Maurice Saatchi, Peter Mayle and John Hegarty. Frank Lowe (who later formed Lowe Howard Spink with colleague Geoff Howard-Spink) also worked there. They all admired the crisp, simple work produced by the New York agency Doyle Dane Bernbach and allied this approach with the kind of humor peculiar to the British. Their 'Pure Gold' campaign for Benson and Hedges cigarettes is one of the all-time classics, the original campaign making Benson & Hedges Special Filter the UK's best selling king size cigarette. In the 70s, when regulations on cigarette advertising tightened, CDP came up with a campaign that featured no spoken words, just the B&H packet in unusual locations and situations.

Weren't there some great advertising slogans around in the Sixties? Still frequently quoted today are 'Beanz Meanz Heinz', 'High Speed Gas', 'Go To Work On An Egg' (why did they ever get rid of those cute little lions?), 'A Hazelnut in Every Bite' and the superb 'Put A Tiger In Your Tank'. Come on, own up, you had a wooly tiger tail attached to your car or scooter radio aerial as well, didn't you! The 'Beanz' advert of 1967 was invented by Maurice Drake with an accompanying jingle by Johnny Johnston. Maurice was also responsible for 'Roses grow on you' ( made famous by Norman Vaughan ) and later, the Double Diamond advert ' I'm only here for the beer'. 1968 saw the start of Cadbury's memorable 'All because the lady loves . . . Milk Tray' adverts starring 'man in black' Gary Myers.

The first real pop music used in commercials was in 1963 when cartoon Beatles launched Nestle's Jellimallo bar. The Rolling Stones, despite their 'rebel' image, seemed to have no trouble embracing the establishment when they recorded for Rice Krispies in a cartoon parody of Juke Box Jury in 1964 (click image on left for sound file) and Cliff, Craig Douglas, Acker Bilk and Lonnie Donegan all featured in a 'live action' commercial for Quaker Puffed Wheat - 'A swinging way to start the day' - voiced over by D.J. Brian Matthew.
'You're never alone with a Strand' was a memorable cigarette advert from 1960 but failed to get across whatever it was trying to say. The 'Lonely Man' theme, a hit record in its own right, made people associate the ad with loneliness. A Daily Express survey in the same year demonstrated that only 23% of women watched TV commercials. 30% did sewing or knitting, 19% carried out household jobs and 13% apparently did the cooking.

 

Most advertised products were soap products but the advertising authorities decided that their claims were becoming a bit too extravagant and banned 'ultimate' claims such as 'Persil washes whitest' and 'Daz washes whitest of all'. The advertising geniuses found other ways of getting their message across and an 'OMO' ad won 'best commercial of 1962'. The first real 'British' pop music was used in commercials in 1963 when cartoon Beatles launched Nestle's 'Jellimallo' bar. The Rolling Stones did backing music for Rice Krispies in a cartoon parody of Juke Box Jury and Cliff, Craig Douglas, Acker Bilk and Lonnie Donegan all featured in a 'live action' commercial for Quaker Puffed Wheat - 'A swinging way to start the day' - voiced over by D.J. Brian Matthew

 

Cigarette advertising was banned from children's television slots in 1963, all actors appearing in these ads having to be over 21, and was dropped from television altogether in August 1965.The Oxo family had begun their long running 'soap' style adverts in 1957 and were an ever-present throughout the Sixties, featuring the lovely Mary 'Katie' Holland. Other successful 'leftovers' from the Fifties included 'Murray mints, Murray mints, too good to hurry mints', Rice Krispies 'Snap, Crackle and Pop, the gorgeous harem girls delicately nibbling Fry's turkish delight and a whole hoard of nagging little brats chorussing 'Don't forget the ( Rowntrees ) fruit gums, mum.

 

'Hands that do dishes can feel soft as your face with mild green Fairy Liquid' was one that had us rolling in the aisles and was to feature Patsy Kensit with the classic 'Mummy, why are your hands so soft'?

All together now . . . Because Daddy does the . . . ho ho. . .

Nestle very kindly gave us the first blond, bespectacled 'Milky Bar Kid so strong and tough' - he wouldn't have lasted 30 seconds in my class! More to our taste were the Cadbury's Flake girls, pretty hot stuff for the Sixties!

Bing Crosby starred in a commercial for Shell which involved a whistle-stop motoring tour of Britain. Not a bad song for a commercial . . . da . . da . . da . . 'We're going well, we're going Shell, you can be sure of Shell' especially with his unmistakable velvet tones.

 

Digby the Old English sheepdog became the first of a long line of Dulux dogs in 1963 and the catchphrase of the year was surely 'Schhh . . . you know who' from the king of the voice-over, Top Secret star William Franklyn on behalf of Schweppes in a series of secret agent Bond-style spoof adverts. Christmas 1964 wouldn't have been the same without 'Tick-a-tick-a Timex la la la' being heard, seemingly constantly, on the telly. Previously mentioned, the Esso tiger campaign - still going strong - came to us in 1964, the Homepride Flour Men tried to persuade us that 'graded grains make finer flour' from 1965 with the assistance of some famous voiceover artists such as John LeMesurier, and the 'Go to work on an egg' series provided overtime for chickens everywhere in 1966.

 

Clement Freud and Henry the bloodhound amused us with a double-take for Chunky dog food in 1967. The year was a comparatively inventive one as it also saw the 'Boy in a man's world' adverts for Meccano and Captain Bird's Eye sailing into port for the first time to extol the virtues of fish fingers - well, someone had to do it and things were a bit slack in the Father Christmas business at the time . . . The French actor Fernandel was sacked from the Dubonnet adverts after it was discovered that he couldn't utter a single word of English, not even 'Do have a Dubonnet'.

 

Although huge amounts were spent on TV advertising, comparatively few classics remain as lasting memories.... Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet; Let your fingers do the walking (Yellow Pages); A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play; Get the Colgate ring of confidence; Does she or doesn't she? (Clairol); The best thing a lady puts on! (Avon)

 

 

VINTAGE BRITISH 1960'S TV ADS