SCHWEPPES TOMATO JUICE | Gardening Advice | 1961
Pretending to Be a Gardening Show to Sell Tomato Juice / Schweppes "Gardening Advice"
In 1961, a British commercial that won the Grand Prix at the Cannes advertising festival pretended to be a gardening program. But underneath, it was really an ad for Schweppes tomato juice. It talks about gardening with a completely straight face, and before you know it, it's talking about tomato juice instead.
The insight
The gap between the gardening-show format and the tomato juice content is exactly what makes it funny. It borrows a format that was familiar in British living rooms at the time, and slips the ad in through that gap.
The idea
It was planned by Clifford Bloxham, directed by David Paltenghi, and produced by Anglo-Scottish Pictures. It was made as one entry in a series that parodied various TV and film genres.
What happened
It won the Grand Prix at the Cannes advertising festival in 1961.
Afterthought
We don't know much about the behind-the-scenes story of how it was made, but it's amazing that a parody from over 60 years ago still works perfectly well when you watch it today. The idea of putting on a gardening-show face to sell tomato juice would still feel funny if someone did it now.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 1961
