Babi a Fi

Kellogg's launched their #MyPerfectBowl ad campaign in 2017. Chris Hall (42) and Mark Hearfield (59), who had then been together 22 years, were selected to feature in one of the eight short TV spots. Hearfield told their local newspaper, the Bury Times: "When we heard about the opportunity to be in the advert, we were both really excited. We wanted to be part of the conversation and thought it would be really fun to do a film shoot in our home. We can't wait to see it on the television, Chris can't sleep he's that excited. It was so much fun to be involved and we love the pictures that were shot for the campaign. At the end of the day, it's not every day you get to be in a Kellogg's advert."  A spokesperson for Kellogg's said, "We have seen a change in how people are eating cereal but also in what they are having for breakfast and we wanted to capture how our customers are eating cornflakes." Although the move was given widesprea

Behind the Screen  is a 1916 Mutual Film Corporation comedy short, starring Charlie Chaplin and interesting for its early display of the 'sissy' stereotype. Chaplin plays a stagehand (David) who, along with coworker Eric Campbell (Goliath), finds himself overworked when the rest of the stagehands go on strike. Edna Purviance plays a struggling actress who disguises herself as a boy in order to get work as a stagehand. Of course, Chaplin uncovers the ruse and wastes no time getting to better know the girl, who is still dressed as a boy... When Goliath catches them kissing he puts on an overtly effeminate act to make fun of them - until Chaplin gives him a kick! It's a simple miscommunication joke that's as old as time, but it's unusual to see it played out overtly on camera at this time period. Watch the whole thing on YouTube HERE , or enjoy the story in gif format: For more like this, please click the image below:

YOPA online estate agents worked with gay icons The Village People on their 2016 Publicis Groupe advertising campaign in 2016. The three TV adverts revealed that the band had been stuck in a rut, in a suburban British house, and needed help to move on. Luckily a quick call to YOPA was able to set the move in motion! (Harry Potter geeks may also be interested to know that the YOPA estate agent in the second ad is played by Christian Coulson  - the young Tom Riddle in Chamber of Secrets.) You can watch the full adverts below: For more like this, please click the image below:

I've been writing a series of posts on LGBT+ themes in UK sitcoms over on Tumblr - read more HERE - and as an offshoot I started looking at TV advertising. This will serve as a master post for write ups on individual adverts. ☆   1995 . When news of a male/male kiss in a Guinness ad hit the tabloid press the backlash was so strong that the brand chose not to air it. Read more HERE . ☆   1995 . Levi's cast fashion designer Zaldy in drag in an ad for their 501s. ☆ 1996 . Boisvert Lingerie featured a lesbian kiss in a post-watershed TV spot asking whether men deserved their product. ☆ 1996 . Ford spoofed Levi's controversial 1995 ad in a spot for  Ford Escort starring Lily Savage . ☆ 1996 . Lynx Jealousy. ☆ 1996 . Virgin Vodka aired the first male/male kiss in a UK advert on MTV. ☆ 1997 . Polaroid. ☆ 1997 . Robinson's Juice. ☆   1998 . IKEA's 'Stop Being So English' campaign encouraged Brits to loosen up and become more like t

☆ Cinderella is called ‘Maryelle’. I don’t know why. ☆  The stars are shiny because they’re where princesses and unicorns live, with their sparkly ball gowns and sparklier magic dust. ☆  We can’t turn the lights on in her room after she goes to bed because it will wake up Baby Samabelle, the doll, and Red Rum, the rocking horse. ☆  Taylor Swift's 'Shake It Off' is the pinnacle of human musical achievement. Other singers who are also secretly Swifty - because YouTube's play similar feature makes life easier - include Meghan Trainor, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, and Justin Bieber. ☆  Lack of size perceptions means she thinks she can wear Barbie’s shoes if she just keeps trying to get them on. ☆  Batgirl has two dads (Jim Gordon and Chief O’Hara) and both of them would be very upset if Batgirl didn’t clean her teeth and put her blocks away. (Trying to be like Batgirl is a full time occupation - she has a cape and everything.) ☆  All of her many many masterpie

http://babiafi.tumblr.com/post/157486618143/robin-comes-out-in-the-final-episode-significant For more like this, please click the image below:

Take a look at some of these lovely retro canine companions. :D

Political satire and tickets to a lecture about an historical serial killer. Anthony knows me so well! I hope you've all had a great Valentine's Day! ♡

A while ago now I did a series of posts on 'the fic writer's guide to Britain'. I always intended to write one on policing, and law and order more generally, and now seems as good a time as any to finally get around to it! I'll mostly use media examples, and supplement with how things work in the Met (Metropolitan Police Service, second only to the NYPD in terms of size) and my local force, Gwent Police / Heddlu Gwent , which has around 1,350 sworn members. Mention is made of Scotland and Northern Ireland, but they have seperate systems so unless I say otherwise I'm referring exclusively to England and Wales.

In a spoof of the controversial 1995 Levi's advert featuring a glamorous drag queen confusing a lecherous cab driver, Ford cast well known British drag queen and TV personality Lily Savage  (Paul O'Grady) in their 1996 advert for the new Ford Escort. Ogilvy & Mather were the agency behind the 30 second spot; it was written by Mick French and directed by Paul Gay and Steve Reeves through Blink Productions. It was aired on ITV and Channel 4, but only after 9pm. Leon Jaume, O&M’s creative director on Ford, said: 'This ad demonstrates the flexibility of the campaign - we have used real people in all the ads so far - and Lily Savage is no exception. But we’re going to branch out into celebrity ads.' You can watch the full advert below: For more like this, please click the image below:

It's almost Valentine's Day - and I'm completely unprepared! Not only have I not even bought a card for Anthony, it's also my mum's birthday on the 14th and I haven't sorted out anything for that yet either. I'm still catching up on comments from last week too, along with a bunch of other stuff. I need to spring clean my organisation skills! Anyway, enjoy these cute retro cards as we gear up for the festival of lurve. :D Finally, here's the most perfect for Marianna. She is obsessed with Batgirl and insists on taking her doll everywhere. Seriously, that doll has a better social life than I do!

I kept seeing this fandom shipping challenge doing the rounds on Tumblr, so of course I had to give it a go! (If you're not up on the fandom lingo, check out the brief history post I did for last year's International Fanworks Day.)

IKEA first arrived in the UK in 1987, and in 1996 ran an ad campaign encouraging the nation to 'Chuck Out Your Chintz'. This was followed up with a campaign designed by St. Luke's, advising Brits to 'Stop Being So English'. This spot, which first aired in 1998, had a middle class couple moving away from their mock Edwardian decor and becoming much happier as a result. You can watch the full advert below: For more like this, please click the image below:

☆ February 2018 . ☆   April 2018 . For more like this, please click the image below:

Virgin pushed the boundaries with this 1996 TV advert for Virgin Vodka, created by Arcadia Productions. This was the first UK advert to feature two men kissing and, knowing how difficult it would be to get BACC (British Advertising Clearance Centre) approval for major channels - they had received applications for two ads featuring gay couples and turned down the one that came under their jurisdiction - Virgin opted to air the ad on MTV for three months starting in March 1996. They hoped to later get BACC agreement to air the ad on late night Channel 4. The ad itself was 30 seconds of documentary footage from The Edge, a busy gay friendly bar which had been operating in London's Soho since November 1994. Jackie McQuillan, PR manager for Virgin, said: "It is targeted at the 18-to-35-year-old market where the pink pound is very strong. We'd be mad to ignore it. This is a way of opening up more realistic advertising. If that means showing gay couples than I hope tha

This week we're talking about Groundhog Day! Supposedly the behaviour of a groundhog on February 2nd will predict the weather over the coming weeks. If it's cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow, spring will come early. If it's sunny, the groundhog will hightail it back into its burrow - naturally terrified of its own shadow - and winter will reign supreme for another six weeks. To my shame, it's only relatively recently that I realised groundhogs actually exist and are not just a feature in a film starring Bill Murray! Still, it is a very good film. Did you do anything for Groundhog Day? And have you ever thought something only existed in a movie? :) Jessica is an amazingly funny and smart blogger from Wales who writes on a whole range of topics -- from entertaining vintage nostalgia, to technology tutorials, to book reviews, to raising her adorable munchkin, and so much more! This week she's sharing the Ballad of Roly Bear .