33 posts tagged “pub”

The youngsters at work hadn’t seen this 1979 TVC for Kentucky Fried Chicken before.

   However, the following TVC for Cadbury’s Crunchie is even older (1975) and they remembered it, due to its long run, even after the packaging changed. (There was a CGI version that updated the packaging—which is not worth talking about.)

For a moment I thought this was a real billboard saying someone was missing (see the bad typography), since it was the only one I saw. Turns out now it’s for a TV show.

   OK, this was clever (and we do have a lot of clever ads) and I am very glad TVNZ is at least promoting one of its own shows strongly—but is it also irresponsible? By the way, I do not recall what the show is named.

When I go on YouTube, there are a lot of commercials that the posters claim are ‘banned’. I’ve spotted quite a few that weren’t banned, which is rather annoying. It’s like going to Wikipedia and finding the car pages are wrong (about 90 per cent, by my reckoning, have factual errors that no “expert” writing about them would make).
   Well, here’s a commercial for Toyota that was actually banned in New Zealand by the political correctness movement. Probably the excuse was anyone seeing this TVC would surely then commit domestic violence. I would have banned it for a lack of originality and viewing it the second and third time, it is plain stupid. The message: buy a Toyota, destroy your marriage.
   However, not everyone has my tastes, so here is a real banned TVC for the Toyota RAV4 for your viewing pleasure(?).

   Un pub interdit pour la Toyota RAV4 en Nouvelle-Zélande.

I was chatting to Nick Tomlinson au blog, and this ad for the 1988–9 Vauxhall Cavalier came to mind. Yes, the car of the future is the Opel Vectra A!

   No mention of a nuclear power cell, which GM actually did promise us in the Futurama shows of the 1950s.

Un pub britannique de 1988 pour l’Opel Vectra A, s’appelle Vauxhall Cavalier en Grande-Bretagne.

Here’s an audience favourite from New Zealand, advertising the state-run lottery.

Un pub pour la loterie en Nouvelle-Zélande, avec la chanson plus célèbre d’Edith Piaf (‹La vie en rose›, mais en anglais).

Here’s the full publicity picture from US Life on Mars, including the American Gene Hunt himself (Colm Meaney), Sam Tyler (Jason O’Mara) and Annie Cartwright (Rachelle Lefèvre).

   What is American for ‘You great, soft, sissy, girly, nancy, French, bender, Man. United-supporting poof!’?
   Here’s another pic from the network:. Question: who’s the old dude on the left? Is this the American Ray?    And, finally, the trailer, which is of great interest to me. Fans of the original, you’ll notice many things are repeated from the first episode in the UK, except the Americans drive on the wrong side of the road—so Sam stops his Jeep on the right side. (He is, interestingly, struck from left to right, too.) The suspect’s name, Colin Raimes, is the same, Sam’s girlfriend in the present is called Maya, and even the Life on Mars title card looks very much like the original with a few changes for US tastes. IMDB says Edmund Butt, who scored the original, has the same job this time around.
   Gene seems less tough in this incarnation though. Maybe Philip Glenister desensitized us?
   I was laughing through most of it (note the American VO with ‘Back in the nick of time’, used in the second series) but unlike most Brit fans, I am looking forward to this.     Un pub pour la nouvelle série américaine Life on Mars, avec les photographies de publicité. Il y a beaucoup de similitudes avec la série originale britannique du BBC.

I seem to remember one of the car brands doing a similar commercial here. This one is for Ford of Britain, made in the 1980s. If the Sierra there is a brand-new one, I would guess this was made around 1985 or 1986. It’s a nice, nostalgic trip through the 20th century and notice the British variation on the American ‘Quality is Job No. 1’ slogan at the end.

   Un pub pour Ford en Grande-Bretagne pendant les années 80. Le slogan américain est presque la même.

The clips are coming! Two on YouTube of any note for the new series Ashes to Ashes.
   The fact that Alex Drake is aware of what happened in Life on Mars is going to make for some very interesting self-referential moments. It’s looking good!
   The first promo is only 40 seconds long, so if you don’t want to see the beginning of a TV show, you can stop after that. The second is part of the scene where DI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) arrives in July 1981.

   Les pubs pour la nouvelle série britannique, Ashes to Ashes. Elle commencera en fevrier 2008.

[Cross-posted] The above advertisement for the Citroën C4 was withdrawn in Spain after complaints from some Chinese that it was insulting to the entire nation.
   Somehow, I think that’s an exaggeration.
   Sure, some folks in the Politburo might be annoyed. But there will be a lot of Chinese who think that Mao Tse-tung is fair game when it comes to advertising humour.
   Americans are quite happy to dress up an actor as Lincoln and make a few jokes, and Elizabeth I appeared in Blackadder.
   At least neither Abe Lincoln nor QEI was responsible for the deaths of 70 million of their own subjects, managing to butcher more than their enemies were able to.
   While it’s true I might get annoyed at the same treatment being given to Confucius, surely a more uniting figure for Chinese people, chances are I’d shrug it off. The late Pat Morita did plenty of Confucius jokes in Happy Days, and I still watched the series—even when the Fonz became the star.
   Having driven the C4—both diesel and petrol models—I can even endorse these cars.
   Citroën, don’t buy in for a second that Mao is a universally revered symbol among Chinese, or that we can’t take a joke.
   And remember that those people writing on message boards about how insulted they are at this ad are under the surveillance of the Red Chinese Politburo. Ten years ago, they would not have even been allowed online. They know this and they know there are spies online. Everyone is just acting as though they are loyal Communist Party members and not being counter-revolutionary.
   You can bet that no one in Beijing will complain if Mao was used in a Mercedes-Benz advertisement as a satisfied customer. After all, the man ordered plenty of 600 models.
   No Chinese complained when Citroën used Chinese symbols to sell the AX (‘Révolutionnaire!’) in 1986–7. As far as I can make out, this is just an extension.
   Of course, Citroën has apologized to the overly sensitive types, I say principally because it has a vested interest in Red China, selling everything from a facelifted Peugeot 206 as the C2 to ZX sedans that command a hefty share of the taxi market.
   Citroën’s statement read, ‘We repeat our good feelings towards the Chinese people, and confirm that we respect the representatives and symbols of the country.’
   Money and capitalism have won the day and assured the Communists an apology. I wonder what Mao would say to that.

The Toyota Hilux commercial in New Zealand many years ago, where the word bugger is the only thing uttered, is one of the more famous exports from this nation. But it’s not original, since many people say ‘Bugger’ when frustrated with their Corollas. Or when frustrated with making an ad for a Corolla.
   Here’s John Blackman in the 1980s, who utters this very word in these out-takes for a 1984 Toyota TVC in Australia. (Note: he also utters f***, s*** and c***.) Car buffs are right: Australia was still selling a locally produced 70-series model in 1984.

   Les gaffes des pubs australiens pour la Toyota Corolla, en 1984.