Interesting Ad

[Herald1360]

Dunno where this should be, but I'll start by posting it here.

Found whilst sorting out the loft, though it's much older than the 11 years I've lived here. I suspect that the picture on the back of the advert may have been why I kept it in 1971.....

Hmm, it's not very readable as posted- If anyone really wants a better copy (11Meg jpg), PM me with email

[paulsherwin]

A great aunt of mine had one of those Music Box One record players. I remember it sounded absolutely awful.

[G4YVM David]

I like the "cross advert" reference...."im only here for the beer".

D

[Panrock]

It's funny how something so bright, breezy, and 'modern' comes to look so dated. A process that has always fascinated me.

Steve

[Junk Box Nick]

I'm curious about the cassette recorder which looks like it was a badge-engineered Philips EL3302.

The headline typography is typical of the the 1970s hard-kerned approach as Letraset became more common.

[dazzlevision]

Originally Posted by Junk Box Nick

I'm curious about the cassette recorder which looks like it was a badge-engineered Philips EL3302.

By the 1970s, Pye was controlled by Philips, so the cassette recorder is a restyled EL3302.

[Nickthedentist]

That makes sense, Dave, but the record player doesn't look very Philipsy to me...

[dazzlevision]

Originally Posted by Nickthedentist

That makes sense, Dave, but the record player doesn't look very Philipsy to me...

True, but Pye continued to design and make their own big screen CTVs and some audio products until Philips acquired total control of the Pye Group, around 1977. That's about the time the G11 colour TV chassis went into production (and was used in both Philips and Pye branded 20"+ sets) . Even then, some Pye branded goods were sourced outside of Philips (e.g. car radio/audio).

[paulsherwin]

The record player was a horrible thing, an ultracheap plastic single play deck and very basic transistor amp in a crude plywood box. It was a very long way from the Black Boxes of a decade earlier.

[Junk Box Nick]

I'm surprised that Philips didn't badge a compact player such as the AG4000 which predated this ad by about eight years and was a much neater looking solution.

"I'm only here for the beer" - a common advertising mistake: can remember the slogan but not the product/brand it was promoting!

[paulsherwin]

It was a slogan used in a series of ads for Double Diamond keg bitter in the late 60s. That was the Ind Coope alternative to the notorious Watney's Red Barrel and was the biggest selling beer in Britain for several years. The ads featured a male character in various contexts (wedding reception, fortune telling etc) declaring he was 'only here for the beer - it's Double Diamond', and the slogan entered the popular consciousness, like 'should have gone to Specsavers', 'does what it says on the tin' and 'simples!'.

http://m.vam.ac.uk/collections/item/...langdon-david/

[Junk Box Nick]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

It was a slogan used in a series of ads for Double Diamond keg bitter

Best forgotten!

[suebutcher]

That's Alex Graham, the man who drew Fred Basset.

The record player looks like a response to the rock-bottom minimalist Japanese machines of that time. Just about OK for replacing the wind-up gramophone in the kid's bedroom!

[camtechman]

What about the Double Diamond jingle ?

I was only singing it a couple of days ago:

"A Double Diamond Works Wonders, Works Wonders
A Double Diamond Works Wonders, So Drink One Today"

I'll get me coat?

[Junk Box Nick]

Originally Posted by camtechman

"A Double Diamond Works Wonders

Tip for aspiring ad copywriters: put the name of the product in the slogan or catchphrase.

Should have gone to Specsavers

Beanz meanz Heinz

[bluepilot]

Originally Posted by camtechman

A Double Diamond Works Wonders

It was Tankard that helped me excel.

[emeritus]

Ah, the early 1970's Whitbread jingle , which continued " After one I do anything well".

Funnily enough, a report of some research that appeared in the "New Scientist" at the time appeared to confirm this: a graph of reaction time vs. alcohol consumption showed a maximum ( ie fastest) at the one pint level, followed by a decline for greater consumption.

[paulsherwin]

Beer advertising has traditionally been very witty and memorable - often much more impressive than the beer it was trying to sell.

[The Philpott]

Aint that the truth!

Apparently service slang 'Gone for a Burton' derived from a beer ad of the period.

[russell_w_b]

I remember 'Harp: Puts out the Fire', on a billboard in Workington in the 1970s. Underneath someone had scrawled: 'It's all it's fit for...'