1980: The Launch of the Shake 'n' Vac TV Ad!

A fondly remembered TV ad, featuring Jenny Logan doing a wonderful 1950s style song and dance routine around her living room as she sprinkled Shake 'n' Vac carpet freshener. "Do the Shake 'n' Vac and put the freshness back, do the Shake 'n' Vac and put the freshness back, when your carpet smells fresh, your room does too, every time you vacuum, remember what to do..."

The ad is often quoted by ITV, Channel Four, the BBC, old Uncle Tom Cobbley and all, as being first broadcast in 1979, but this is incorrect. The product was first on sale in 1979, but the advertising was delayed until 1980 due to the 1979 ITV strike.

The World Advertising Research Center site provides fascinating information from 1980:

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Shake n' Vac: A New Product Launch

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Hilary Rose, Mike Stefan and Carol Reay, Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, IPA Effectiveness Awards, 1980

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Launch of a new powder carpet and room freshener. Sold in 1979, but advertising delayed to 1980 by ITV strike. TV only used. Results: consistent sales growth (Nielsen Food Index); sales growth linked to advertising; awareness, brand recall, levels of trial, all satisfactory. Regional variations on ad weight relate positively to sales and share (Nielsen). Contribution to profit and overheads in first year claimed, though not substantiated.

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Go to the WARC site Shake 'n' Vac info by clicking here.

"You Got An Ology?" - 1987 - The Launch of the BT Beattie Ads...

Having just been told by her grandson Anthony that he's flunked his exams, passing only pottery and sociology, Beattie says: "He gets an ology and he says he's failed... you get an ology you're a scientist..."

Mrs Beattie Bellman was created by Richard Phillips of the J Walter Thompson advertising agency in 1987.

And she was originally to have been called Dora.

The BT Beattie ads were launched around December 1987. It is often stated on the web, and indeed on a "Greatest Ads" TV show, that 1988 was the launch year, but the BT site lists the first appearance as 1987, and Maureen Lipman states in the 1989 script book You Got An Ology? that the recording of the first ten ads, accomplished in just over two weeks, took place before and after the great gale of October 1987!

Those first ten ads included the legendary "Ology".

Here's what the BT site says:

A star is born and Beattie takes the nation by storm. Maureen Lipman's Jewish granny goes on to star in 32 TV commercials and contributes the word "ology" to the English language.

See the full article here and scroll down to the 1987 section for the Beattie info.

The phone used by Beattie in the "ology" ad was a red BT Tribune - released in 1987.

"You Got An Ology?" by Maureen Lipman and Richard Phillips, 1989. Beattie had become a major celebrity in two years, justifying the publication of this funny book - which included twenty ad scripts, the thoughts of Beattie, and various household hints and recipes from the great lady!

"It's All At The Co-op NOW!"

"It's All At Your Co-op NOW!" or "It's All At The Co-op NOW" were famous TV ad slogans and jingles of the 1960s and early 1970s.

In the hard times of the '70s, the slogan changed to the far less catchy "Your Caring Sharing Co-op".

Shame.

1980s: The Scotch Skeleton Ads

Video technology had been around for yonks, but domestic VCRs had only been around for a few years by the 1980s.

In 1980, only 5% of UK households had a VCR. As the decade progressed, the beasts became cheaper to buy or rent and our home entertainment went through something of a revolution.

Of course, advertisements reflected the trend. The ad above, featured in the TV Times in December 1985, shows the popular Scotch skeleton, voiced by Deryck Guyler of Please Sir! and Sykes fame.

"Re-record not fade away, re-record not fade away..." was the skeleton's famous catchphrase, from 1985 onwards. The skeleton made his debut in 1983, when nearly 20% of UK households had a VCR. By the time of the "re-record..." ad of 1985, it was 25%.