From 1990, a classic ad for Access credit card by Gold Greenlees Trott, with a little help from Nick Park at Aardman.
“Does you do or does you don’t take Access?” is sung to the tune of “Is you is or is you ain’t my baby?”, a song first recorded in 1943 by Louis Jordan
#advertising
It’s Friday 13th.
Frano Selak was a Croatian music teacher known as the 'unluckiest AND luckiest man alive' for surviving seven close brushes with death and then winning the lottery.
In 2006 he featured in this terrific ad for Doritos, ‘The World's Unluckiest Man’.
#advertising
I’ve spent my entire career in advertising.
But sometimes…
This recent Indian ad for Lava Mobiles employs a Bollywood-style kidnapping scenario to promote its ‘Service at Home’ offer by highlighting typical delays. Basically, a kidnapper repeatedly tries to call the father for ransom, but his phone's stuck in a service centre.
#advertising
In the late 1990s, Lowe Howard-Spink created a fabulous campaign for Scalextric. It marked a significant strategic shift, recognising that many Scalextric sets were actually bought by (or for) dads rather than children.
It won a bunch of trophies including a Cannes Gold Lion.
#advertising
When was the last time an ad made you cry?
Try watching this recent Indian film from Goel TMT.
Inspired by a real-life incident, ‘Band Baaja Bitiya’, featuring actor Gajraj Rao, subverts traditional wedding imagery and is gaining global acclaim for its powerful social commentary.
#advertising
Scalextric was invented by engineer Fred Francis in 1956, who put small electric motors into model Scalex cars. "Scalextric" appealed to adults as much as children.
Fast forward to 1998 and LHS created some fabulous ads for the brand, based on that simple insight.
#advertising
Today is International Women's Day, an annual event that originated in 1909 when a "Women's Day" was organised by the Socialist Party of America.
In 2017, State Street Global Advisors commissioned ‘Fearless Girl’, a bronze statue facing the iconic Wall Street Charging Bull.
#advertising #IWD
This 2016 ad for Philips is a lovely bit of storytelling. Largely because it’s based on the real-life story of a window cleaner at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota who famously dressed as Spider-Man to lift the spirits of sick children.
#advertising
The 2026 Winter Paralympics kick off today in Milan.
I’m reminded of this 2018 Super Bowl ad. It features legendary Canadian 🇨🇦 para-alpine skier Lauren Woolstencroft who beat 1 billion to 1 odds to win eight Paralympic gold medals.
#advertising
The new F1 season starts this weekend, and with 24 races, the teams can’t rest from now until the final race in Abu Dhabi. This insight fuelled the idea of a never-ending track when I ran the UBS account, and led to this animated film, dramatising a multi-track lap in all its glory.
#advertising
In a fabulous parody of BA’s ‘Red Eye’ ad, Gold Greenlees Trott created this fabulous ad for Britain’s Petite toy typewriters. Must have been 1988/89.
#advertising
Great book.
“Pleasant trip?”
British Airways' 1988 ‘Red Eye’ ad accurately captured the macho corporate one-upmanship of the 80s.
Created by Saatchi & Saatchi, and directed by Richard Loncraine, the ad promoted the newly launched Club World (Business Class).
#advertising
No one outside the US has heard of the Jack in the Box restaurant chain, which has over 2,000 restaurants and 80% brand awareness. The company's advertising features a no-nonsense CEO who just happens to have an enormous round clown head.
#advertising
Happy 82nd birthday to the legendary Sir Roger Daltrey. Born in London during a German bombing raid, he helped make The Who one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century.
I always remember his appearance in this 1985 ad for American Express: "Don't Leave home without It!"
#advertising
“Labour Isn’t Working” was voted by ad title Campaign in 1999 as "the greatest poster of the previous century" (in Andrew Rutherford’s obituary).
The year after that, election ad content became unregulated
25 years on, what’s happened to election ads?
www.thetimes.com/uk/obituarie...
Here’s a lesser-known ad (1980) from one of the greatest campaigns in British advertising history. The Cinzano ads, which ran from 1978 to 1983, paired comedy genius Leonard Rossiter with actress Joan Collins.
#advertising
Here’s an ad you won’t forget in a hurry. It’s from India, for Steadfast money counting machines, and it’s called ‘Dirty Money’ for a reason. Created in 2025, it proved that advertising for a mundane B2B product doesn’t have to be mundane.
Just don’t watch this on a full stomach.
#advertising
Five years after CDP/Ridley Scott’s famous Hovis ad, Ronnie Barker shot this parody in the same location, carrying his loaf to the top of Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset.
Happy Friday!
#advertising
I see that the US House Oversight Committee is hearing testimony from the Clintons. I won’t comment on the politics, but it certainly seems reminiscent of the 1954 McCarthy hearings.
It reminded me of this fabulous 1995 ad for Carlsberg, created (I think) by Saatchi & Saatchi.
#advertising
This fabulous IKEA ad from 2016 is a social comment on people's obsession with posting pictures of their food on Instagram. Imagine how that would play out in pre-revolutionary France.
#advertising
In 2009, a Seattle-based seafood restaurant chain called Ivar's aired the shortest Super Bowl TV commercial ever.
It was half a second.
The half-second regional spot was inspired by news that Miller High Life were planning a one-second ad.
Ready? Don’t blink!
#advertising
"I can't abide innuendo, as soon as I see one in the script I have to whip it out"!
In 2012, James Gandolfini surprised everyone by stepping back into his Tony Soprano character in a promotional film for the airing of The Sopranos on HBO-owned cable channel ‘yes Oh’ in Israel. It was, however, regularly misidentified as an ad for a life insurance company.
#advertising
How about a "Sack o'sauce in a can o'meat"?
This 1999 ad for Hyundai Sweden, titled ‘Toy Boy’, often pops up on social media. It's a lot of fun, created by Leo Burnett Stockholm, filmed in Majorca.
A 'Toy Girl' version was also made in case of criticism, but research quickly showed that the public much preferred the original.
#advertising
Ribs in a can anyone?
"Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me!"
Happy birthday to the wonderful Kenneth Williams, who would have been 100 today. Famous for his roles in 26 Carry On films and many British TV and radio shows and ads.
Here he is in a 1983 ad for Dylon fabric dye.
#advertising #KennethWilliams
At a recent event I heard some great insights from a recruitment specialist.
The first thing he said was to “scrap the CV” as most skills are obsolete within 2.5 years, so the majority of your CV is probably irrelevant.
So when I came across this fabulous Dilbert cartoon…
#advertising
