TV's golden age ads: from Baldy Man to Gold Blend flirters
The History of Advertising Trust's archive in Norfolk holds over 10 million advertising items, including 50,000 TV commercials, showcasing the evolution of ads from the 17th century to today.
Archive of Advertising Memories
In the depths of Norfolk, the History of Advertising Trust (HAT) archive houses more than 10 million ad artefacts, with 50,000 commercials available on its website. The collection, stored in former barns leased by Sir Nicholas Hickman Ponsonby Bacon, aims to prove that advertising is not disposable ephemera but a vital record of social history.
Iconic Campaigns
Among the highlights is a 1986 Hamlet cigar ad featuring cricket star Ian Botham smoking a cigar with the line: "Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet." Smash instant mashed potatoes were sold by excited metallic Martians chanting "For mash get Smash." PG Tips tea featured bowler-hatted chimps as removal men. The 1991 Renault Clio ad parodied French films with Nicole and Papa, while the Gold Blend couple (Anthony Head and Sharon Maughan) flirted over Nescafé coffee in 1993, watched by 30 million viewers.
Ridley Scott's 1973 Hovis ad showed a boy in a flat cap pushing a bike up cobbled streets to Dvořák's New World Symphony. In 1986, Gregor Fisher's Baldy Man entered a photo booth, only to have the seat collapse and his comb-over ruined – then Bach's Air on a G String played as smoke rose, suggesting smoking as solace.
Changing Society, Changing Ads
HAT's executive director John Gordon-Saker admits ads trigger irrational loyalty – he still drinks PG Tips out of devotion to the chimps. The archive traces smoking ads: a 1940s Craven A ad claimed "Craven A – for your throat's sake" before the 1962 Royal College of Physicians report linked smoking to cancer. By 1964, TV cigarette ads were banned. Later ads used suggestion, like Benson & Hedges gold box placed with luxury items.
During WWII, the "Squanderbug" character urged people to save money for National Savings; its final version had a Hitler-like comb-over and swastikas.
Modern Challenges
Deputy director Alistair Moir notes today's advertising has lost emotional storytelling, becoming formulaic and data-driven. He cites the 2008 Hovis ad as a successful campaign: a boy runs through British history from 1886 to the millennium, revitalizing the brand.
The oldest item is a 1680 ad for an atlas, while a 1684 fire insurance ad from the Observator promised to put out fires only if premiums were paid – "like a protection racket," Moir says.
