A television advertisement is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. Advertisers and marketers may refer to television commercials as TVCs.
Creature Comforts is a British adult stop-motion comedy mockumentary franchise originating in a 1989 British humorous animated short film of the same name. The film matched animated zoo animals with a soundtrack of people talking about their homes, making it appear as if the animals were being interviewed about their living conditions. It was created by Nick Park and Aardman Animations. The film later became the basis of a series of television advertisements for the electricity boards in the United Kingdom, and in 2003, a television series in the same style was released. An American version of the series was also made.
Tango is a soft drink originating in the United Kingdom, primarily sold in the UK and Ireland. It was first launched by Corona in 1950. Corona was purchased by the Beecham Group in 1958, and Corona Soft Drinks by Britvic in 1987.
Cadbury Dairy Milk is a British brand of milk chocolate manufactured by Cadbury. It was introduced in the United Kingdom in June 1905 and now consists of a number of products. Every product in the Dairy Milk line is made with exclusively milk chocolate. In 2014, Dairy Milk was ranked the best-selling chocolate bar in the UK. It is manufactured and distributed by the Hershey Company in the United States under licence from Cadbury. The chocolate is now available in many countries, including China, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh.
Pot Noodle is a brand of instant noodle snack foods from the United Kingdom, available in a selection of flavours and varieties. This dehydrated food consists of noodles, assorted dried vegetables and flavouring powder. It is prepared by adding boiling water, which rapidly softens the noodles and dissolves the powdered sauce.
A Cadbury Creme Egg, originally named Fry's Creme Egg, is a chocolate confection produced in the shape of an egg. It originated from the British chocolatier Fry's in 1963 before being renamed by Cadbury in 1971. The product consists of a thick chocolate shell containing a sweet white and yellow filling that resembles fondant. The filling mimics the albumen and yolk of a soft boiled egg.
Crunchie is a brand of chocolate bar with a honeycomb toffee sugar centre. It is made by Cadbury and was originally launched in the UK by J. S. Fry & Sons in 1929.
Hovis Ltd is a British company that produces flour and bread. Founded in Stoke-on-Trent, it began mass-production in Macclesfield, Cheshire, in 1886. It became part of Rank Hovis McDougall (RHM) in 1962 after a succession of mergers. RHM, with its brands including Hovis and Mother's Pride, was acquired by Premier Foods in 2007.
Shreddies are a breakfast cereal first produced in Canada in 1939 by Nabisco. The Shreddies brand is held by Post Consumer Brands in Canada and elsewhere, and Nestlé in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The Smash Martians were the stars of a series of 1970s and early 1980s TV advertising campaigns for Smash instant mashed potato in the UK. They were a family of Martian robots who 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 voices were by Peter Hawkins. The catchphrase 'For Mash Get Smash' is still an iconic advertising slogan in the UK. The adverts featuring the Smash Martians were voted TV advert of the century by Campaign magazine.
Bisto is a popular and well-known brand of gravy and other food products in the United Kingdom and Ireland, currently owned by Premier Foods.
Double Decker is a British brand of chocolate bar currently manufactured by Cadbury. First introduced in the UK in 1976, its name derives from the well-known double-decker bus, with the buses themselves sometimes appearing in advertisements for the product. It is a mixture of milk chocolate, nougat, and crisp, crunchy cereal. This has proved to be a very popular recipe, being used in cakes and other confections.
Sheilas' Wheels is a car insurance brand based in the United Kingdom that targets its insurance to women although they also insure men now. The brand, named after the Australian slang term sheila for a woman, was launched in October 2005 by Peter Wood, and is part of Esure, the insurance group he founded with HBOS in February 2000.
"Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet" was an advertising campaign for Hamlet Cigars, which ran on television from 1966 until all tobacco advertising on television was banned in the UK in 1991. The campaign returned in cinemas in 1996, continuing there until 1999, with the final commemorative advert and the modified tagline, "Happiness will always be a cigar called Hamlet."
Fingers are a popular chocolate biscuit in the United Kingdom and Ireland which consists of a rod-shaped biscuit centre covered in chocolate. Fingers are produced at Burton's Biscuit Company in the United Kingdom and sold by Cadbury UK, and are distributed in markets around the world, including North and South America, Europe and Asia. Since March 2013, Cadbury Fingers have also been sold in Australia, with three different varieties available.
Gorilla is a British advertising campaign launched by the advertising agency Fallon London on behalf of Cadbury Schweppes in 2007, to promote Cadbury Dairy Milk brand chocolate. The centrepiece of the campaign was a 90-second television and cinema advertisement, supported by related media purchases in billboards, magazines and newspapers, as well as sponsored events and an organised internet presence. The total cost of the campaign is estimated at £6.2 million. The central television advertisement was created and directed by Juan Cabral and starred the actor Garon Michael.
Surfer is an integrated advertising campaign launched in 1999 by Diageo to promote Guinness-brand draught stout in the United Kingdom. The cornerstone of the campaign is a television commercial, originally 60 seconds long, which centred on a Polynesian surfer successfully taking on a gigantic wave. Shot in Hawaii over a nine-day period and directed by Jonathan Glazer, the piece went on to win more awards than any other commercial in 1999, and in 2000 was voted the "Best ad of all time" in a poll conducted by Channel 4 and The Sunday Times.
Clearcast is a non-governmental organisation which pre-approves most British television advertising. It came into being on 1 January 2008 and took over the responsibilities of the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre. Clearcast is now owned by four UK commercial broadcasters: ITV, Channel 4, Sky and Warner Media.
Thinkbox is the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK. Its shareholders are Channel 4, ITV, Sky Media and UKTV. Together Thinkbox's shareholders represent over 99% of commercial TV advertising revenue through their owned and partner TV channels. Thinkbox's Associate Members are Disney, TAM Ireland, Think TV (Australia), thinktv (Canada), TVN Media (Poland), TV Globo (Brazil), Tenk TV (Norway), DSTv, and Virgin Media. Discovery Networks UK & Ireland and STV also give direct financial support.
"Go On Lad" is a British television and cinema advertisement launched by Premier Foods in 2008 to promote its Hovis brand of bread. The 122-second piece was commissioned as part of a £15,000,000 brand relaunch designed to reverse Hovis' declining market share and profits. The commercial follows the journey of a young boy through 122 years of British history, from the establishment of the Hovis brand in 1886 to the current day. The campaign was handled by advertising agency Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy. Production of the commercial itself was contracted to London-based production company Rattling Stick, with post-production handled by The Mill. It was directed by Ringan Ledwidge. "Go On Lad" premiered on British television on 12 September 2008.
