Adverts We Can All Still Recite

You can't remember a phone number but you can sing a jingle for a product that stopped being made in 1994. That's advertising working exactly as intended.

Here are the ones everybody has.

The slogans

• 'Beanz Meanz Heinz.'
• 'A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play.'
• 'Everyone's a fruit and nut case.'
• 'Just one Cornetto' - sung to O Sole Mio.
• 'Have a break, have a Kit Kat.'
• 'For mash get Smash', with the laughing Martians.
• 'Do the Shake 'n' Vac and put the freshness back.'
• 'Hello Tosh, gotta Toshiba?'
• 'Ooh, Gary Davies' - and the whole run of Radio 1 idents people remember better than the ads.

The jingles

• 'I feel like chicken tonight.'
• 'Milky Bars are on me' - and the Milky Bar Kid.
• 'Um Bongo, Um Bongo, they drink it in the Congo.'
• 'We all adore a Kia-Ora' - with the crows.
• 'Domestos kills all known germs, dead.'
• 'Cadbury's Caramel', with the rabbit and the voice of Miriam Margolyes.
• 'P-P-P-Pick up a Penguin.'
• 'Sha-la-la-la-la, Timotei.'
• 'Cushions the shock of the shopping', and every other supermarket jingle.

The story ads

• The Hovis bread advert - the boy pushing his bike up Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, directed by Ridley Scott, with Dvorak's New World Symphony.
• The Yellow Pages 'Fly Fishing by J R Hartley' advert.
• The Gold Blend couple, which ran as a serial across years and made the news.
• The Guinness surfer, with the horses.
• The PG Tips chimps.
• The Smash Martians.
• The R Whites secret lemonade drinker, sung by Ross MacManus - Elvis Costello's father.
• The Tango slap advert, which was pulled after children copied it.

The ones for adults that children absorbed anyway

• 'Vorsprung durch Technik.'
• 'It's good to talk' - Bob Hoskins for BT.
• 'Should've gone to Specsavers.'
• 'Papa? Nicole?' for Renault Clio.
• 'The future's bright, the future's Orange.'
• 'Reassuringly expensive' for Stella Artois, a slogan later quietly retired.
• 'Because you're worth it.'
• 'Go to work on an egg.'

Shop cards

How to write it so it lands

• The Hovis hill is in Dorset, not Yorkshire.
• Ridley Scott directed the Hovis advert.
• Repetition across three channels is why these never left.

Where to shop next

• 70s kids' TV shows
• 80s kids' TV shows
• 90s kids' TV shows
• Saturday morning TV
• After-school TV
• Kids' TV presenters we all remember
• Scariest kids' TV moments
• Christmas TV of the 70s, 80s and 90s
• Bank holiday films that were always on
• Puppets and animation we grew up with
• ITV or BBC childhood
• TV theme tunes quiz
• Test card, Ceefax and the three-channel years
• Soap moments that stopped the country
• Nostalgic quiz questions
• Growing up in the 80s and 90s
• Playground games we all played
• 80s and 90s party ideas
• Free feel good tools
• Shop cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Birthday cards for kids
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What is the most famous British TV advert?

The 1973 Hovis advert, filmed on Gold Hill in Shaftesbury and directed by Ridley Scott, is consistently voted Britain's favourite. Most people assume the hill is in Yorkshire; it's in Dorset.

Who sang the R Whites secret lemonade drinker advert?

Ross MacManus, a big band singer who was also Elvis Costello's father. Elvis Costello sang backing vocals on it.

Why was the Tango slap advert banned?

It was withdrawn after children copied the slap in playgrounds, causing injuries including damage to ears.

Why do we remember old adverts so well?

Because there were three or four channels, the same ads ran in every break for months, and they used simple sung jingles - the format the human memory holds onto best.

Do you sell DVDs or TV merchandise?

No - we make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. This is written for the pleasure of remembering it, and the only products on this page are our own cards.