Thursday, October 04, 2007

Shake N Vac Ad Debut - 1980, NOT 1979!

At last I have discovered the truth about the lovely Jenny Logan Shake N Vac TV ad launch year. For 70s hypists, it's bad news... the ad was first broadcast in 1980. The product was on sale in 1979, but the ITV strike struck, delaying the advertising launch until 1980. The World Advertising Center has all the facts -

Shake n' Vac: A New Product Launch

Hilary Rose, Mike Stefan and Carol Reay, Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, IPA Effectiveness Awards, 1980

Launch of a new powder carpet and room freshener. Sold in 1979, but advertising delayed to 1980 by ITV strike. TV only used. Results: consistent sales growth (Nielsen Food Index); sales growth linked to advertising; awareness, brand recall, levels of trial, all satisfactory. Regional variations on ad weight relate positively to sales and share (Nielsen). Contribution to profit and overheads in first year claimed, though not substantiated.


And so yet another thing we apparently enjoyed in the 1970s is revealed to have first met our gaze in another decade...

The funny thing is, at least SOME of the pop culture researchers (including those from ITV, Channel Four and the Daily Telegraph) who have researched the Shake N' Vac ad MUST have become aware of the true facts about its debut year. So why didn't they reveal them? Was the justification simply more 70s hype?