It’s Episode 6 and it’s our Summer Holiday special! 

But how? Why would a Summer special focus on an ad break from deep in the festive period? 

Booking cycles, old bean, booking cycles: unlike Martin’s dad, most people book their summer hols in Jan or Feb – so we have four ads here that are fluffers for that post-festive ritual. 

And what a contrasting four ads they are: Club 18-30 implies a host of Close Encounters - and shows a world as alien to early 80s Britain as it is to your two hosts. Holimarine serves as a grainy, gritty corrective to such high-gloss nonsense. Danish Seaways makes Jon seriously reconsider his City Break plans, and Thomas Cook show the brand-building yin to Episode 2’s call-to-action yang.

In between we also have the more everyday escapes of cigarillos & alcohol, where we debate the merits of seemingly futile one-upmanship, and what on earth makes a beer worth staying in for.

Contains the correct amount of swearing.

You can find the ad break in question here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QPBeyk2vYA

Many thanks to Kaleidoscope for releasing this clip into the world. 

If you remember any of these ads and want to comment on them, or the show in general, you can find us here: 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568524318900

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 5 and we’re taking a short hop further back to 1983.

It’s the graveyard that is early January, but the nation is being pepped up by the UK TV premiere of “Superman”, a super speedy 5 years after its cinematic release!

So, what super brands are riding on his, er, cape tails? 

Colgate bring in Arthur Fowler, or is it an alien decoy? Philips turn something potentially wildly exciting into a more phlegmatic experience. Homepride bring us something that is less translatable to 2025 than anything else we’ve seen so far. Portland Holidays provide little intrigue beyond the colour of some swimwear. Kattomeat lead us on a big tangent on parenting theory. And Morrissey. Can Martin evaluate Holsten Pils in even a halfway objective fashion given one of its unfortunate 80s and 90s associations? KFC have a fine line in beige slapstick, and we finish with a Beefy finale from Shredded Wheat to give us a bit of oomph right at the end. 

Contains the correct amount of swearing.

You can find the ad break in question here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlTM9CEcZKE

Many thanks to The Ashmole Day Collection for releasing this clip into the world. 

If you remember any of these ads and want to comment on them, or the show in general, you can find us here: 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568524318900

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 4 and we’re in the very crucible of the “crap” 80s: 1986.

It’s late June and it’s early-period Bond. And yet, for an even-then ancient film, this ad break sees us dancing with the big boys, two of the very biggest boys in fact.

So what would make McDonald’s and Coca-Cola come out for this? Could it have something to do with what’s lurking in the shadows of the evening schedules? We won’t give the game away, but Martin’s six year old self is about to experience the opening salvo of a lifetime of sporting disappointment. 

So what of the ads? We get a want-away plea from a public service; Polycell puts the Special into SAS; McDonald’s squares the global/ local circle, whilst suggesting that the BBC canteen couldn’t have been up to much; we realise that Windsor has a third dubious institution beyond a royal seat and a school for scoundrels; lastly, we snort caffeinated soda out through our nostrils laughing about what substance must have been travelling in the opposite direction among the cast and crew of our final ad.

Contains the correct amount of swearing.

You can find the ad break in question here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&si=jIrmNAa2Ij9i7Ibf&v=WsBa4o65AgM&feature=youtu.be

Many thanks to The Ashmole Day Collection for releasing this clip into the world.

If you remember any of these ads and want to comment on them, or the show in general, you can find us here: 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568524318900

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 3 and we’re in the most late 80s of late 80s years: 1987.

What’s more, it’s FA Cup Semi Final weekend. Yet something doesn’t quite seem right. The ad targeting seems off. Why is that? 

Setting that aside, it’s the usual curate’s rum bunch. The American military bring joy to extremely select households. Simon Bates and Dennis Waterman face off for the first time since Top of the Pops on 13 Nov, 1980.

Persil prove that some mothers really do ‘ave ‘em. We go down a big steampunk crocodile hole of warring crisp companies. Comfort is nondescript to the point of being meditative. And lastly, like the old trope of being told to think of nothing but a white bear if told not to, we prove that Ferrero Rocher cannot be given any form of reception without gassing on about The Ambassador. 

Contains the correct amount of swearing.

You can find the ad break in question here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6q46Dz-v48&list=PLgz-lhXv5NMneIqCYzyCl-LylXrsS1DV6&index=8

Many thanks to Johnny Feen for releasing this clip into the world.

If you remember any of these ads and want to comment on them, or the show in general, you can find us here: 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568524318900

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our second episode takes a short hop back to the late 80s. It’s the first Saturday night of 1988, and our New Year’s Resolutions are marked by intellectual aspiration. So we’re settling down to a night of Channel 4. But will the ads be in keeping with this loftiness? 

Well, despite watching commercial television, we’re not beyond the reach of Auntie, and she’s gone nuclear. Save & Prosper implore us to erm, invest and, possibly, prosper. 

Carlsberg rise to the occasion by rolling out the good stuff. Simpsons of Piccadilly hound us with their shouty sales message. Thomas Cook are cleverer than they seem. Excell Communcations essay a pocket-sized symphony of 80s go-getterdom, and Abbey National reassure us we’re in safe financial hands by injecting some real peril, right at the death.

Contains the correct amount of swearing.

You can find the ad break in question here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=lilerSSqR50

Many thanks to VintageLynx for releasing this clip into the world.

If you remember any of these ads and want to comment on them, or the show in general, you can find us here: 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568524318900

For more fantastic 80s nostalgia, check out our friends at 80s and 90s Fans UK on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/80sand90sfansuk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our first episode is a rip-roaring ride to the epicentre of the 80s: it’s 1985 and we’ve just been interrupted in our viewing of another classic from the Reg Grundy stable. But what an interlude it is. R Whites display the same ambivalence towards lemonade drinking that Trainspotting did towards heroin; Exchange & Mart issue a stark warning of the perils of using ropier, local listings papers; Castlemaine XXXX whisk us back to Australia in the 50s. Or the 80s, we couldn’t tell. BT invest a large-scale budget to display small-scale mindedness, and we wrap up with a half-arsed ad for a half-arsed product that provoked a half-arsed parliamentary debate. 

Contains judicious use of swearing.

You can find the ad break in question here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqQ8eGUaf58

Many thanks to the VHS Video Vault for the posting this clip!

If you remember any of these ads and want to comment on them, or the show in general, you can find us here: 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568524318900

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.