John Smith’s Bitter
DDB, London
[3.94.088]
More Info
“Penguins” + “Integrity” [00:30]# In keeping with the product’s positioning and the “No nonsense” slogan, presenter jack Dee feels that the add folk’s gimmicks are totally inappropriate. So he sits stoically frowning as a pair of penguins sing an inane jingle while tap-dancing. Dee tells us that John Smith’s Bitter now has a widget in the can for that “just served by the landlord taste.” “And when you have a widget, you don’t need gimmicks.” The penguins hang their heads and slink off the set. In the second spot, Jack Dee again protests against the gimmicks the advertising people have come up with and simply refuses to do what they ask of him, fearing for his integrity as an artist. Only when a sack full of money is positioned next to him, is he able to rise above his pangs, of conscience – and performs a completely awful musical number praising the can’s widget with a female chorus line disguised as love bugs (a reference to an earlier spot which had two love bugs cavorting around).
- Client John Smith's Bitter
- Ad Agency DDB, London
- Art Director John Webster
- Copywriter Jack Dee
- Production Company Fletcher Sanderson & Open Mike Productions, London
- Director Mandie Fletcher