UK Commercial Break #1 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Shake 'n' Vac

This is one of my favourites. It is called the: 'Dancing Woman'. Jenny Logan did the 'Shake 'n' Vac' for audiences all over Britain for over ten years. It was shot in a studio in Notting Hill and originally aired in 1979. On the day of the shooting, Jenny Logan says that she felt really ill and was throwing up in between takes. To make things worse, the only way she could get the powder to distribute in a zigzag for the commercial was to tip the powder up and down as well as side to side, which did not help her nausea. Sales of Glade's 'Shake 'n' Vac' quadrupled each time this advert went on the air during its ten-year lifespan.

Answer: Del Monte

'Del Monte' is Spanish for 'of the mountain'. The brand name was inspired by the luxurious hotel in Monterey, California.

Answer: Cinzano

Joan always ended up with the Cinzano being spilt all over her. Alan Parker and Terry Lovelock were Ad Directors of these commercials at different times. Alan Parker was friendly with Leonard Rossiter and invited him to star in these commercials. Leonard Rossiter told Alan that he wanted the commercials to have an old-time musical jokes theme and thus the commercials were born. Terry Lovelock states that he and Leonard Rossiter had differences of opinion about the way in which Leonard should be directed. Leonard allegedly referred to Joan Collins as 'the prop' during shoots. Joan was very professional about this and apparently handled this with aplomb. Alan Parker went on to direct such films as: 'Bugsy Malone' (1976), 'Midnight Express' and 'The Commitments' (1991).

Answer: Milk Tray

The calling card was always the silhouette of a James Bond'ish type man. In the 70s and 80s, the Milk Tray man was one of the best-known figures in British advertising. The campaign began in 1967 and was voted the 48th most popular advertisement by Channel 4 viewers and Sunday Times readers.

The character was killed off in 1997 because Cadbury considered the concept too dated. Rumour has it that Cadbury are considering a resurrection of this character, but with a humorous slant. Cadbury is hoping to sign up Robbie Williams as the Milk Tray man for a new advertising campaign.

They believe that he would be the perfect candidate to reprise the role of the black-clad action figure.

Answer: Heinz

'Don't be mean with the beans mum, Beanz Meanz Heinz'. These commercials were aired from the mid 1960's. This tagline was written by a man called Mo Drake whilst having a pint in his local pub.

Answer: Victor Kiam

'Shaves as close as a blade or your money back'. Victor Kiam really did buy the company after he used the product. He credits his wife for giving him the shaver which he says changed his life. The Agency originally wanted Kevin Keegan to make this commercial, but Victor insisted that he do them himself all around the world.

He even learned how to say these legendary words in the languages of each country. At an acceptance speech given by Victor K. Kiam II for the award of 'Outstanding Business Leader' in 1988, he explained: 'The commercial is not designed by Madison Avenue, it came out of a heated discussion in England when we couldn't agree on what commercial to run, and they asked me to tell the story of the leveraged buyout of Remington....They had every reason why I couldn't do it: I was too old, I didn't have enough muscles, I was an American and I had never acted. To all of that, I said, 'Fine, let's try it anyway.' Obviously, it did have some success, and came to the United States. One day I was looking at the commercial as it ran and I said, 'You know, that commercial isn't realistic.' Here I am demonstrating a shaver and I'm in a suit. So I said: 'The next time I do a commercial, I am going to do it in a bath robe.' So I shot the commercial and that's when the problem began (my wife) saw the commercial which had me in the bathrobe. 'Well, honey, how did you like it?' 'I was surprised, I don't think that belonged on television.

Not very dignified. They've never shown any other corporate executive in a bathrobe. Never.'... But then I found out something that was worse: most American men don't wear a bathrobe when they shave. Well, I was torn between my love and affection and also from the desire not to be beaten up and the fact that I wanted to sell my product in a realistic setting. So I made a commercial and I, for good reason, draped a towel over my shoulders and covered one breast, as two breasts would have been too much for the American public. She (my wife) said: 'Nobody would ever buy a shaver from a guy with a body like that.'....'. Kiam died in May 2001. He was 74 years old and had been suffering from a heart condition.

Answer: Hamlet

This punchline was inspired by the Charlie Brown: 'Happiness is...' posters. Alan Parker and Paul Weiland were both directors of these adverts at different times. Gregor Fisher, who stars as Rab C Nesbitt (Scottish sitcom character) also starred in one of these adverts in his 'Naked Video' character of the bald man with a small strip of hair that he wraps around his head turban-style.

Answer: Kit Kat

The chocolate bar was originally made and sold in London and South East England in September 1935. It was originally called: 'Rowntrees Chocolate Crisp'. It became 'Kit Kat' in 1937. It was named after 'the Kit Kat club': an 18th century Whig literary club.

The building had very low ceilings and the paintings had to be wide, but not very tall to fit in to the building. In the art world, these paintings became known as 'kats'. It is believed that 'Kit Kat' derived its name from the paintings that had to be snapped off from the top and bottom to fit in to the building.

The chocolate became established very quickly as Rowntree's leading brand. It was viewed as an important food commodity during the Second World War. With the exception of 1945, when the wrapper was blue and plain chocolate was used in the recipe due to milk shortages, the wrapper has always been red and white and milk chocolate has been used. 'Kit Kat' first appeared on television adverts in 1957, using the tagline: 'Have a break, Have a Kit Kat'.

In 1969, the first colour advertisement was aired. In 1973, the colour of the packaging changed slightly: bright red and white. The colour has only changed once more since that time: in 1993. The name of Nestle replaced that of Rowntree on the wrapper. In 1999, the single finger bar of chocolate was produced. In 2001 the chunky kingsize bar was launched and the wrapping changed to plastic foil wrap. Here are some 'Kit Kat' facts: 47 Kit Kats are consumed every minute in the UK, Pierce Brosnan is a Kit Kat fan and when Kit Kat was first launched in 1935, it cost 2d or in today's equivalent: a penny (wish it cost that now). All these facts are drawn from the official Kit Kat website: www.kitkat.co.uk

Answer: R. Whites

Ross MacManus starred in the original commercial. This took place in a venue called 'The Cave', where he posed as the main singer in a band called 'The Thirst'. He also sang the song. He states that he tried to impersonate Elvis Presley for the first half of the song and then the Beatles for the second half of it.

His son, Declan Patrick MacManus, is a famous singer but uses another name for his singing career. Can you guess who it is? It is Elvis Costello. He made his television debut in this commercial as one of his dad's backing singers.

The second version of this advert, aired in 1973, took place in a house. The husband creeps down the stairs in the middle of the night to steal some of the lemonade, but is caught by his wife. Julian Chagrin starred as the husband and mimed to Ross MacManus's version of the song. Julian Chagrin apparently went to live in a Kibbutz.

More recently, he has been touring the Middle East in a one-man comedy show.

Answer: British Gas

Under the Thatcher Government, a number of National companies were privatised. The point of this campaign was to try to encourage people from all walks of life to see that they could individually make an investment. It was to move away from the image that only big companies could buy into these shares. Thus a lot of the 'Sid' commercials were made in a rural setting.

Answer: Marmite

In the last few years, they changed their campaign to a "you either love it or hate it" theme. I love it and my husband hates it.

Answer: Walkers

'Walkers' felt that Gary Lineker was the perfect figurehead for the type of campaign they had in mind. He had the image of being a nice guy, having never been booked once during his football career. Walkers wanted to convey that the crisps were so irresistible, that they could even turn Gary Lineker into a 'meany'. 'Walkers' had an American parent company who were distressed about the theme of the first commercial proposed for their commercials: namely that Lineker, returning to his home town of Leicester, having been given a warm welcome by locals proceeds to steal a packet of crisps from a child.

The American company was concerned about the risk of presenting a sporting hero as a thief. John Webster, the Ad creator says that these concerns were waived aside by the British crew, who felt that the British public would get the joke: luckily it worked. Paul Weiland was the Ad Director. Various versions of this advert have aired over the years, involving the Spice Girls, Ulrikka Jonsson, Gazza and Helena Christensen to name but a few.

Answer: Pepsi

In 1893, Caleb Bradham, a young pharmacist from New Bern, North Carolina, began to experiment with many different soft drink concoctions. Friends sampled them at his drug store. In 1898, one of Bradham's formulations, known as 'Brad's Drink': a combination of carbonated water, sugar, vanilla, rare oils and kola nuts. Bradham, looked for a name that would better describe his formula and bought the name 'Pep Kola' from a local competitor.

He then changed it to Pepsi-Cola on August 28th.

Answer: Eastern promise

Cliff Adams, a well-known composer, composed the music for this commercial. In the 1950s when these adverts were first aired, they were considered quite risque, as the Eastern theme meant that the women revealed a lot of their body. The commercials were based upon the Rudolph Valentino image of man and sexuality.

Answer: Sugar Puffs

Henry McGee agreed to be in these adverts because he felt that the strait-laced role he played in them complemented his other role in 'Benny Hill' perfectly. When he toured nationally with the Honey Monster, he said that they needed security guards as the 7 to 10 year old boys had a tendency to charge the Honey Monster.