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MAA blast from the past: milk’s ‘lotta bottle’ and Birds Eye

Were ads better then than they are now? Some were no doubt, others maybe not..

It was a less woke world too, as these demonstrate.

Here’s Allen Brady & Marsh from 1983 for the UK National Dairy Council (ABM was never exactly a beacon of creativity but highly successful in its day.)

And Birds Eye from HHXL in 1996, a much-lauded and one-time Campaign agency of the decade. Featuring a young Ben Whishaw

Maybe advertising’s ephemeral by nature.

2 Comments

  1. I worked at Allen Brady & Marsh back in the dawn of time. I recently discovered this Anglia TV documentary, which shows ABM in its mid-seventies heyday. Peter Marsh comes across as a rather ghastly combination of Trump and Thatcher. Can anyone identify the splendidly snooty interviewee who describes ABM’s output as ‘vulgar slapstick’?

    https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-enterprise-allen-brady-marsh-advertising-1979-online?fbclid=IwAR1vp1LbOgBQpvr9hFFqJ6QLRVW9W8OYH-kubm6ydZxa_O8sFf6IoilxCB0

  2. Stephen
    Can’t say I share your perspective on ABM creativity
    You are right in that Rod Allen’s jingles never enjoyed peer group adulation and never won awards
    But with 5-years there as Media Director I saw first hand evidence that we did achieve outstanding success for clients who enjoyed increased visibility relevance and consumer success with many advertisers enjoying increased customer sales and profits
    O happy days when advertising could make a real difference
    Onwards
    John

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