70 Years of TV Ads: Double W’s Favourite Commercials of All Time
This week marks 70 years since Britain first flicked on the box and found not just Coronation Street, but commercials. Yes, 1955 gave us the birth of UK commercial TV, and with it the unruly, dazzling, unforgettable beast that is TV advertising.
Since then we’ve had jingles that refuse to leave your head, slogans that sneak into everyday chat, and mini-blockbusters that made Sunday nights feel like the cinema. Ads have made us laugh, cry, argue in the pub, and occasionally buy stuff we never needed but absolutely had to have.
And because Double W Worldwide is a certified Clearcast-approved team, we’ve always had one foot in the craft and the compliance of TV advertising. We live for the rules, but we also appreciate the creative that bends them, breaks them, and pushes things forward.
So, to celebrate seven decades of this glorious chaos, we asked members of the Double W Worldwide collective to pick their favourite TV ad of all time. Not the most awarded. Not the cleverest on paper. Just the ones that punched them in the gut, tickled their brain, or wormed into their memory forever.
What we got back is a love letter to the medium at its best: part nostalgia trip, part masterclass, part “how on earth did that ever get signed off?”
Jim Fry - Art Director’s Pick: Coca-Cola “Hilltop” (1971)
I was 10 years old when this advert first came on television. At that age, I had no concept of world peace or lofty aspirations for it.
What I did know was Coca-Cola. It tasted good, it was bad for your teeth, and it was definitely better than the knock-off supermarket versions my mum would usually buy. So when you got a bottle, it was “the real thing.”
Looking back now, the ad has this weird Manson Family, hippie-cult quality to it. A bit Jim Jones, a bit Kool-Aid, if you catch my drift. I always thought there was something slightly sinister about the whole peace-and-love vibe. The idea that drinking Coca-Cola could bring world peace felt unreal, even then.
By the time I hit my teenage years, the 1970s were too grimy and cynical for peace and love to mean anything. I was a punk. And from that angle, the ad’s message still feels deeply unfashionable. To be honest, I can only really see the cynical side now, just like I did then. Sorry.
That said, the tune’s great originally by The New Seekers and as an ad, it ticks all the boxes: catchy track, killer catchphrase, sentiment neatly wrapped.
But… a fizzy drink bringing us world peace? Lovely thought. Maybe in the next life.
Coca-Cola, 1971 - ‘Hilltop | “I’d like to buy the world a Coke”
Leah Dunbar Lewis - Client Services Director Pick: Reebok “Belly’s Gonna Get Ya” (2000)
Sometimes an ad is so weird and unsettling that it brands itself onto your memory forever (in a good way). For me, that was Reebok’s “Belly’s Gonna Get Ya.”
That image is burned into my brain: a man sprinting through London with this grotesque, bouncing belly chasing him down. Terrifying, funny, unforgettable. The ad was created by Lowe Lintas for Reebok, they were trying to move away from the slick, “look how athletic I am” image and tap something more honest. Jonathan Glazer directed it, which makes sense, I reckon, because the craft is unreal. The sound design, the camera work, the sheer menace of that belly… everything about it sticks.
The belly itself was gargantuan: 8 ft wide, 5 ft tall, made of foam, sprayed with latex, covered in plastic hairs and artificial moles to make it disturbingly real. They even had an actor inside the thing, running and jumping to make it bounce and wobble through the streets. It cost a fortune to make, and some markets even banned it for being too disturbing. But let’s be honest, that notoriety only made it bigger.
And here’s the irony… most people remember the ad more than the brand. You’ll hear, “oh yeah, that weird belly thing,” but not always “Reebok.” Does that make it a bad ad? Not really. It proves how unforgettable the idea was. But it also shows how different the challenge is now. Back in 2000, fame could live in the ad alone. Today it has to stick to the brand as much as the execution, because the conversation doesn’t stop once the spot ends.
Back then it spread by word of mouth, pub chat, and a few TV slots. Drop the same idea into today’s landscape and it would explode. TikTok remixes, YouTube reaction videos, think pieces about body politics, endless GIFs and screenshots on Instagram. It would live for months instead of a single burst.
That’s what makes it fascinating now. Even in a pre-social era, it managed to lodge itself in culture. Imagine the reach if that belly was chasing people through every feed as well as down the street.
Reebok “Belly’s Gonna Get Ya” (2000)
Mat Bowden - Head of Digital & Media Pick: Treebor Softmints ‘Mr Soft’ (1986)
I wrestled with this one. There are so many iconic ads to choose from. You could play it safe with “Surfer,” or a Wrigley’s spot from the 90s baked in sun-drenched denim and middle-America smiles. You could nod to the frequency-driven narratives of Maxwell House or the Bisto family. Even the clean punch of Ronseal or Bob Hoskins reminding us “it’s good to talk.”
But safe never really moved me. I’ve always been drawn to the different. The strange. The Judder Man. Or better still... Mr Soft.
The Trebor Softmints ad that first aired in 1986, created by Lowe Howard-Spink.
When others zig, you zag. Why use colour on a colour TV? Why make sound on the radio? That pure white advert flipped the rules, creating an other-worldly “soft land” that, to my young brain, was irresistible.
Layer on the fairground swirl of Cockney Rebel, and suddenly you moved an entire generation into walking like Mr Soft. It didn’t just grab attention, as the story goes, it revitalised a brand, to the point they diversified mints into fruit sweets.
I'm particularly fond of the slapstick gag of him walking into a lamp post, that was eventually masked by the product end card.
I don’t know, Maybe I just have a soft spot for confectionery. Chewits’ King Kong parody? A masterpiece. And who can forget: “Hoots mon, there’s a moose loose aboot this hoose!” - On that note, i'm off to Martins, for a 10p bag of mixed.
Trebor Softmints - ‘Mr Soft’ (1986)
Max Thomas - Financial Director’s Pick: John Smiths 'Ave it!’ (2002)
I’ve been thinking about this for an hour and there are so many contenders. The Milk ad. The Nike (or was it Adidas?) spot where the all-star team take on the devils. Nescafé coffee. Ahhh, Bisto. PG Tips with the chimps. All brilliant in their own way.
But the ones that really stick with me are the Peter Kay John Smith’s adverts from 2002, created by TBWA\London. Absolute genius. The one where he jokes about putting his mum in a home so he can turn her room into a snooker room. Or the football one where he boots the ball over the fence and shouts “ave it!” something I still yell pretty much every time I kick a ball. Then there’s him brushing the orange segments aside and replacing them with a can of beer. Just perfect.
Special nod to the Guinness ads too, especially the ones tied to the Six Nations. The surfer one is rightly iconic, but being Welsh, I’ve got a soft spot for the Shane Williams spot. I love it so much I still find myself googling it to watch again and again. I don’t do that for any other advert.
You did say I could have more than one, right?
John Smiths 'Ave it! (2002)
Laurence Bray Founder’s Pick: Tango ‘St George’ (1996)
For me it has to be Blackcurrant Tango, St George.
Adam Lury and the team at HHCL were behind it, the same agency that gave us Ronseal’s “does exactly what it says on the tin.” That kind of work made me realise advertising could be mischief, theatre and truth all smashed together. It’s why I ended up studying advertising in Watford of all places, where I made lifelong friends: one being William Waldron. Years later, he and I co-founded Double W, the two W’s in our name. Day one, car park, B&H in hand. That was the start of it all, and both of us bonded over a love for the spirit of this ad.
A throwaway letter from “Sebastien Loyes” became an epic rallying cry. Shot to look like one continuous take, swelling from office to the White Cliffs, Ray Gardner in purple shorts, Harriers overhead, Felix on the soundtrack. Pure theatre.
And here’s the kicker, it only aired ten times. The budget went almost entirely on production, close to half a million quid to film back then. God knows what that equates to nowadays. But that gamble gave it more cultural fame than endless frequency ever could. People forget that. One perfect punch was all it needed.
Try pitching “ten airings, half a million quid” to a client today you’d be laughed out of the room. But that’s why it’s still remembered.
Tango ‘St George’ (1996)
Conor Boro Director of Branded Content Pick: Nike ‘The Cage’ (2002)
When I was asked to think of my favourite advert, plenty of options came to mind, but the one that instantly surfaced was Nike’s The Cage. Nike's iconic "The Cage" advert, also known as "The Secret Tournament" or "Scorpion KO," was created in 2002. The agency behind it was Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, and the campaign was directed by Terry Gilliam, a former Monty Python member.
Nearly 25 years on, it still feels iconic. Nike has always been at the forefront of culture-shaping commercials, and this was a masterclass: a razor-sharp remix of Elvis’s A Little Less Conversation, the biggest football stars of the era, and a concept so fresh it felt like sport and cinema colliding. It didn’t just stay on screen either, it inspired a real-life tournament and even that unforgettable silver ball. Back then, with no YouTube, you had to hope it appeared while you were watching TV, which made every glimpse electric.
Campaigns like this don’t just advertise, they etch themselves into culture. And that’s why, for me, The Cage is still untouchable.
Nike ‘The Cage’ (2002)
