50 Years of TV Ads
50 years of television , of course, means 50 years of television advertising. Love 'em or hate 'em, those TV ads have played a big part in how we define ourselves as Kiwis.
This year the NZ Film Archive put together a website showcasing classic Kiwi commercials from the last 50 years. Looking back at these classic TV ads illustrates just how much television advertising reflected our developing cultural identity.
"You're soaking in it"
"Hugo said, no you go.."
"I gave them to the pilot and he threw them out the window"
"Good on ya, mate"
Chances are you recognise at least some of those phrases and the products they advertised. (If you want to check, the answers are below.)
Whether it's five, ten or forty years later, some ads you just never forget.
Those memorable and catchy advertising techniques used by agencies often meant the ads stayed with us long after the television programmes did.
Some ads will forever make you cringe (Ajax Spray and Wipe, anyone?) but successful ads will still raise a smile years later. Who could forget the moving family drama of the Fearnleaf Butter ads?
In the early days of TV, our ads were almost indistinguishable from international advertising with formal BBC style voiceovers and simple product centric ads. " Take Crunchie!"
By the late 1960s and early 1970s, advertisers started using uniquely Kiwi cultural references to connect with viewers.
Good old kiwi farming blokes Ches 'n' Dale were introduced in 1969 to promote Chesdale Cheese and today their jingle can still be sung word for word by several generations of Kiwis.
Greggs Coffee took another approach with their Different Faces ad from1970. They promoted our outdoors lifestyle and a more multicultural idea of New Zealand.
In 1970s home grown advertising blossomed and the decade saw some of NZ's most iconic TV advertisements - Kentucky Fried Chicken's Hugo commercial , Cadbury Crunchie's Great Train Robbery and the multi-award winning "Dear John" BASF tape commercial.
By the 1980s and into the 1990s, using Kiwiana and nostalgia had become a regular advertising cliche. Good keen blokes like Barry Crump and Vince Martin were everywhere. Even big international brands like McDonalds attempted to Kiwi-fy themselves by introducing the Kiwiburger and accompanying jingle which squeezed in as many Kiwiana references as possible.
In the caring-sharing Nineties, advertisers like Telecom and Anchor took a different tact. Telecom played on our love of cute and cuddly animals with the Animals campaign starting with the adorable Meercats as well as SPOT the Dog. SPOT's popularity even boosted ownership of Jack Russell terriers. Try and find a Kiwi kid from the 1990s who didn't want one!
Meanwhile Anchor introduced us to the innovative mini soap of the Fearnleaf Butter ads. The well crafted serial about a family coping with the aftermath of divorce became much more than just a commercial.
Today advertising techniques and viewers' tastes may be more sophisticated but New Zealanders still respond to distinctly Kiwi ads. Just last year Mitre 10's Sandbox ad, with Kiwi kids taking on the DIY "She'll be right" attitude, won Best Ad in the Fair Go Ad Awards.
Don't forget to watch The AD Show's 50 Years of Advertising Special next week!
Celebrate 50 Years of TV on our Cheers to 50 Years site here.
You can visit the Film Archive here to watch many more classic commercials.
1. Palmolive - Marge ads
2. KFC "Hugo" ad from 1975
3. Ansett Airlines from 1980/1990s.
4. Speights Southern Man Ads from 1990s - today.
