My Top 13 Adverts

1. Guinness Classic ads 1998/9

Unforgettable TV adverts of the highest quality from Guinness, filled with stunning imagery, a pulsating soundtrack and a haunting voiceover.
1998 - Swim Black - An aging local sports hero’s annual swimming race against the ‘clock’ of a pint of Guinness being poured perfectly at his brother’s bar. He worries he won't make it one year, but his brother starts the clock a little later each year.
1999 - Surfer - A group of surfers, wait for the perfect wave. As it arrives, the crashing 'white horses' turn into actual horses. One by one, a surfer 'crashes out', leaving only one, who manages to conquer the wave. The others join him as they celebrate on the shore.

2. Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Drumming Gorilla 2007

It shouldn't work, it has nothing to do with chocolate bars, but watching a gorilla drumming to Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight. What’s not to like?
This advert was named as the nations all-time favourite at one point in time, and was created in a bid to bring fun and excitement back to the Cadburys organisation in 2007. Surprisingly the advert almost didn’t make it onto TV screens, but when it did it was 90 seconds long, didn’t involve any humans, and there were no Dairy Milk bars in sight. The advert holds the audience’s attention as for the first minute there is no backing track, and it shows a slow pan of the gorilla getting ready to perform. Ironically despite the lack of branding and mention of Cadburys, the advert is still very clearly for the chocolate giant, as the gorilla is placed in front of a purple backdrop. The directors of the advert wanted to showcase exactly how eating Cadburys Dairy Milk makes you feel, and the audience resonated with this as it became one of the companies largest and most successful campaigns.

3. Smash Martians 1973

A family of Martian robots would watch humans laboriously preparing mashed potato the traditional way on TV. The robots would then mock what they saw by chortling as they heard how the "Earth people peeled their own potatoes with their metal knives, boiled them for twenty of their minutes, then smashed them all to bits" – instead of using Smash instant mash. The catchphrase 'For Mash Get Smash' is still an iconic advertising slogan in the UK. From 1973 to 1992, viewers were treated to a delightful parade of TV commercials that showcased the aliens’ attempts to understand Earth’s obsession with traditional mashed potatoes. The series cleverly combined comedy and culinary appeal, turning what could have been a mundane product into a pop culture phenomenon. What made the campaign so enduring was its ability to connect with the Best of British nostalgia, capturing the essence of a bygone era. The whimsical aliens became unlikely cultural ambassadors, creating a sense of shared joy and laughter across living rooms throughout the nation.

4. Cinzano Collins & Rossiter 1978

Cinzano created an unlikely partnership between the glamorous Joan Collins and Rising Damp star Leonard Rossiter in this series of adverts. Viewers saw the couple on board an aircraft, on holiday, at a fancy dress party, at a ski lodge, entertaining Japanese businessmen – and in each scenario, a pretentious, accident-prone Rossiter accidentally douses his prudish wife Melissa (Collins) in Cinzano. Although the viewer always knew what was coming, the ads were perfectly timed and skilfully written, and the not-quite slapstick mocked the drink commercials of other brands aimed at a younger generation. Several accounts suggest the two co-stars’ relationship offstage led to the brilliant chemistry, and all credit due to Joan Collins’ wry delivery of the punchline after yet another soaking.

5. Renault Clio Papa and Nicole 1991-98

Renault Clio Advert set in Historic French town featuring Nicole who tries to sneak away from her dozing Papa to meet her boyfriend. She drives around narrow streets showing how easy it is to manoeuvre the car. He follows her in another Clio, then drives past them in a clinch to meet his petite amour. It ends with her returning to find him apparently still dozing, both sporting secret smiles. The majority of the dialogue in all the ads consists of two words: "Papa" and "Nicole," with meaningful intonations, and the final caption: A certain flair. Background music adapted Robert Palmers' Johnny and Mary.

6. Hovis The Bike Ride 1974

So simple, but so iconic. Voted Britain’s most favourite advert of all time, this ad for Hovis Bread was one of five directed by acclaimed film director Ridley Scott and has since been digitally remastered. It features a boy ushing a bicycle laden with bread up a picturesque English cobbled street. A voice-over, presumably of the boy at a later age, nostalgically describes the trip as he struggles up the steep hill to deliver bread, set to Dvorak’s stirring music. Many people think it’s set in Yorkshire, but it was actually filmed in Dorset and this scene of Gold Hill put Shaftesbury on the map – a memorial to Hovis now stands at the top of the hill.

7. Cadbury Milk Tray Man in Black 1974

It was one of the most popular and longest-running TV adverts of all time, where a man dressed in black overcame impossible odds to deliver a box of delicious Cadbury’s Milk Tray chocolates to his lady love. The mysterious hero appeared in over 20 adverts between 1968 and 2003. Over the years, we saw him jump on a moving passenger train, leap from a helicopter and swim through shark-infested waters. Why? “All because the lady loves Milk Tray”, of course. And the final scene always sowed said lady picking up his distinctive calling card while the camera panned in on the box of chocolates. The ads were inspired by the James Bond films, which had become smash hits at the cinema in the 1960s. The music, The Night Rider, was written by Cliff Adams, who also wrote the music for Fry's Turkish Delight advertisements.

8. British Telecom Beattie – Maureen Lipman 1988
Maureen Lipman created a TV advert legend as Beattie in this classic BT advert, and her Jewish granny character went on to star in 32 TV commercials and contribute the word "ology" to the English language.. Having been told by her grandson Anthony that he has failed most of his exams - only passing pottery and sociology, Beattie cries: "He gets an ology and he says he's failed... you get an ology you're a scientist..."

9. Wall's Cornetto Just One Cornetto 1980

The best-remembered advert (by Lintas) is from 1981, in which a curly-haired man sat in a gondola sings a revised version of the late 19th century Italian opera song "O Sole Mio" to a lady passing him in another gondola, before snatching her Cornetto from her. The lyrics to the song have been altered to "Just one Cornetto, give it to me. Delicious ice cream, of Italy. Creamy vanilla and chocolate dream, give me Cornetto, from Walls ice cream." The song ignores the fact that Cornetto is actually made in the United Kingdom, although its roots lie in Italy, as you will discover. However, the advert does display "Made outside Italy by Walls" at the end. In another similar advert first shown in 1982, a gondolier reaches up towards a bridge and grabs a Cornetto from a young lady. As he passes through to the other side of the bridge, she snatches it from his hand with a smile on her face.

10. Nescafé Gold Blend Couple 1987-93

Nescafé tried something different with this campaign, where they actually created a serial drama. Anthony Head and Sharon Maughan starred as Tony and Sharon, a couple who begin a slow-burning romance over a cup of coffee. The ads were in a serial format, with each ending with a cliffhanger. The commercials were extremely popular, and as time went on, the appearance of a new instalment gained considerable media attention. They are one of the most famous examples of serialised advertising. The ads had a notable effect on sales, increasing them over 50% in the UK alone. They have been heralded as a premier example of positioning, creating an atmosphere of sophistication, while remaining relatable.

11. R Whites Secret Lemonade Drinker 1973

The adverts featured actor Julian Chagrin in pyjamas creeping downstairs and shushing the dog. He raids the fridge for R. Whites Lemonade, impersonating a slightly crazy Elvis as he uses the bottle as a mic, only to be caught by his wife, played by Harriet Philpin. Ross McManus wrote and sang the advert's song, with his son Declan McManus (aka Elvis Costello) providing the backing vocals. There was also a version of the commercial in 1985 featuring John Otway as the secret lemonade drinker in a phone box. In the 90s, various celebrities replaced his wife in the commercials including comedians Ronnie Corbett and Frankie Howerd, actor Nicholas Parsons, tennis player John McEnroe and footballers turned pundits Ian St John and Jimmy Greaves.

12. Babycham Patrick Mower 1970s

In the 60s the iconic image of a baby deer was turned into a cartoon; it became a party deer, bringing a bit of pizzazz to the dullest of social gatherings. Fast forward to the 1970s, and the TV ads had turned up the glamour element. Raffish leading man (and future Emmerdale star) Patrick Mower is on his yacht somewhere in the Med, blonde companion on his arm, living the life of the international playboy. He pours a Babycham and says: "You don't need a cherry with it but here's one thing you DO need". He turns and passes the glass to a pretty girl. Music: Babycham's got sparkle Babycham's got life!
Further references to the ultimate in cool lifestyles (‘Hey, I’d love a Babycham!’) in the 1980s. A man in a bar asks for a Babycham, and it goes very quiet and everyone looks on in horror. A cool, tough-looking black guy: Hey, I’ll have a Babycham!” Then everybody wants one

13. Boddingtons Cream of Manchester 1997

The brand's creaminess was emphasised through items such as face cream, ice cream, sun cream and whipped cream. Originally a set of print advertisements, the campaign was extended to television in 1992. The television advertisements featured beautiful women with unlikely Mancunian accents (particularly Melanie Sykes) and "achieved the seemingly impossible task of making bitter glamorous". The most famous television advertisement featured a glamorous couple on-board gondolas on Manchester's River Irwell, in a parody of a well-known "just one Cornetto" ice cream advertisement. According to the Manchester Evening News, "it told the world something about the reinvention of the murky old city, that its once-filthy waterway could almost pass for Venice."