Friday Funnies 8: 70s Ads

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A couple of months ago I ran a piece on TV ads from the 50s and 60s which was well received, so I thought I’d come a little nearer with another set. As these are mostly based on humour it seemed logical to include this in my occasional series of Friday Funnies, so here we are, with some ads from the 1970s. Most if not all of these will probably be new to non-British readers, but that won’t stop you enjoying them (I hope!). This is a selection of gentle humour from what my Mum used to call ‘the funnies,’ and as most of them only last thirty seconds or so I’m packing in a few more than usual so you don’t feel short changed.

I’m starting with one in a series that ran for many years. I featured these in the previous post, and included a 70s one for a comparison. Here’s another, showing its age and being a little quiet so you might need to turn the volume up:

Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut ran many ads and for most of the 70s they were fronted, like this one, by Frank Muir, who was a comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. Among many strings to his bow were his appearances as a team leader on the TV show Call My Bluff, which is where most will probably have seen him. The tune, by the way, is the Danse des Mirlitons from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.

TV advertising the UK is controlled by the Advertising Standards Authority, who have strict rules on the way that alcohol can be promoted. Back in the 70s it was, I think, far more common to see drink ads on TV, and I’m going with a couple that were very popular here back in the day, starting with this, which was one in a whole series:

And here’s another:

Cinzano ran loads of those, featuring Joan Collins and the late Leonard Rossiter, best known here for his two starring roles in the sitcoms Rising Damp and The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin. He was a superb character actor, and developed a great chemistry with Joan Collins for this series, which usually ended with Joan wearing the drink rather than imbibing it. She was already a major movie star at the time of these ads, so the implication that she was ‘slumming it’ was a part of the ongoing joke.

Around the same time a competitor – Campari – developed its own series of ads with the lead played by Lorraine Chase. Here’s a sample. I’ve played this one before – it was the first in the series and became the set up for several others:

Here’s one of the follow ups:

Campari enjoyed a lot of success with these. Lorraine Chase was a former model who used her south London accent to good effect. These were her first acting roles, after which she starred in a sitcom called The Other ‘Arf, and then went into soap opera land. The posh guy in the first ad is Jeremy Clyde, who was well suited to the role: his mother was a daughter of the 7th Duke of Wellington. He had a moderately successful acting career but is probably best remembered here for being one half of the 60s pop duo Chad and Jeremy.

Moving away from food and drink for a while with this next one. This ad was spectacular, and didn’t rely on humour. So why am I playing it? The parody that follows, of course. But first, how to launch a new car:

Followed by how to take the piss out of it, with a new set of ‘robots’:

They had a second go at it, too:

If you mention ‘chimpanzees in adverts’ to anyone who was around in the UK in the 70s they will know exactly what you mean:

PG Tips ran a whole load of those for many years, some better than others. I always liked this one: it’s an old joke, but they did it well.

Another series that ran for several years featured characters from outer space. This is also by Cadbury’s, proving that they made more than chocolate:

The Smash Martians were a familiar sight during 70s ad breaks. Fun adverts, even if they were illogical, Captain. As for the product, let’s just say I preferred the company’s chocolate offerings.

One final one, that wouldn’t be allowed today since cigarette and tobacco advertising was banned on TV in the UK in 1990. Spot the famous faces under those beards:

That was, of course, Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan in an ad for Benson and Hedges, ably assisted by James Villiers – this was the slightly longer version that ran in cinemas, but I recall it being on TV too. You could see the ending coming a mile off but it always made me laugh nonetheless. I’m a simple soul!

I hope I’ve given you a smile or several with this trip down Memory Lane. See you again for Song Lyric Sunday 😊

 

37 thoughts on “Friday Funnies 8: 70s Ads”

  1. Pingback: My September | Take It Easy

  4. Well done, Clive. Unsurprisingly, I’d never seen any of these before. I think my favorites were the two with Joan Collins. She usually played villains in soap opera type shows here, so what made these commercials funnier to me is because I’d never seen her doing anything resembling comedy.

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  5. Hi Clive. I love this post; so incredibly clever. A few of my favorites were the Smash Aliens, the piano-moving monkeys, the 1st Fiat advert (I’d love to own one of those green cars! We have a Fiat dealership in town so who knows?) and the Benson & Hedges where I recognized Peter Sellers.

    Here’s a bit of Six Degrees of Separation for you: Bill and I like to indulge in a very popular and long-running American soap called General Hospital. One of the actors on that show is named James Patrick Stuart whose father is Chad Stuart … the very famous singing partner of Jeremy Clyde (Chad & Jeremy) who is featured in your Campari ad. Small world!

    It was great to see Joan Collins cutting-up in a couple of these funnies … as you said, slumming it.

    For some reason many of these adverts look familiar to me but I know they never ran here in The States. The first video in particular for Cadbury Fruit & Nut is one I’m sure I’ve seen somewhere. Now that I think of it, it may have been part of a special show featuring foreign TV commercials; that may be were I saw it and why it looks so familiar.

    I have to hand it to the Brits for making such cheeky, clever and funny funnies! I thoroughly enjoyed all of them; hats off to you for putting together such a fun post. You had me chucking tonight, Clive. I hope we see more! 😀 👏🏼 😊

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    • Hi Nancy,

      I’m pleased you enjoyed these and that they gave you some smiles – that was the aim! That Fiat ad was pretty spectacular, and stood out for being two minutes long amidst the more usual thirty second ones.

      I love that Chad and Jeremy connection, though I don’t know if General Hospital has ever been shown over here.

      I think you could well be right about some of these being part of a TV show as I doubt they would have been used as ‘proper’ ads over there – I’m guessing some of these products wouldn’t have been available?

      I may well do more of these at some time – there’s loads of material!

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      • It’s a funny thing about General Hospital. Contrary to what many people think, it’s not just American housewives who watch soaps. Bill’s fishing buddy turned him on to GH and he turned me on to it. I refuse to watch TV during the day, though, so we record it and watch after dinner. It’s a hoot!

        With the exception of Smash, I’m familiar with these products, all of which have been available in The States for as long as I can recall.

        One of these days when I’m not toting grandkids about, there will be a Fiat in my garage! I can see myself happily tooling about town. 🚗

        Can’t wait for the next installment!

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      • I’m not a fan of any of the soaps, to be honest, but many are!

        I’m not surprised the products are available there, but I guess the advertising may have been different? Smash is no great loss to you!

        I look forward to hearing about your Fiat, but remember – ‘driven by Italians’ 🤣

        Please don’t hold your breath: this is very much an occasional series so another may be a while appearing.

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  12. Oh, this is a great post!!! I love funny ads! And I liked seeing the Italian products advertised in another country. I enjoyed the first ad of FIAT built by Robots. I am wondering: is one of the Roberts leaning over the engine, Mr Bean? Thanks for the laughs!

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