
I love commercials. I love voicing them and I love watching them too. I recently had a conversation with my mum where she mentioned the iconic Milk Tray Man and it got me thinking about the commercials that have stuck with me throughout my own life. I realised that there are countless ads I can recite line for line. Some with wonderful voice actors who have inspired my own entry into the world of VO and others with such powerful stories I couldn’t help but laugh, cry or smile when I first saw them!
Here are my personal top 5 favourite British TV commercials.
- Compare the Market – ‘Compare the Meerkat’ – Who didn’t fall in love with Sergei and Orlov? I remember making my parents change every insurance policy we had so my brother and I could collect each cuddly meerkat toy.
- PG Tips – ‘Monkey’ – Another advert that resulted in my parents purchasing stuffed animals. Shock horror, I’m actually not a massive tea drinker but I suddenly became one in order to collect the promotional stuffed monkey toys.
- John Lewis –'Bear and Hare' – I played the song on repeat, I bought the cuddly toy (a pattern is emerging here) and I got goosebumps whenever the ad appeared on my telly. It was such a beautiful story about friendship, love and all things Christmas,
- Iceland –‘Rang-Tan’ – This ad made me cry. I’m a huge animal lover and Emma Thompson’s wonderful storytelling abilities brought home the plight of the Orangutan. It serves as a brilliant reminder of how important VO is, in creating memorable and powerful advertising campaigns. I signed up to sponsor an Orangutan in record speed after watching the heart breaking ad.
- Cadbury - 'Gorilla' – One word is needed to describe this ad – Iconic.
Honourable mentions go to the to the 118 men (who inspired many a moustachioed Halloween costume) and the award winning ad by T-Mobile that introduced us all to the Flash Mob.
Do you have a favourite commercial, let me know!
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