The quotation the estimable Jeremiah chose to use on his blog the other day was the famous opening line from L.P. Hartley's The Go-Between.
Naturally, that got me free-associating to this.... possibly one of the most successful ads ever to appear on British TV. It was repeated for years throughout the 1980s, and on into the 1990s, I think. There were several excellent ads in this series (promoting the 'Yellow Pages' business telephone listings), but this one just took off to another level, developing into a cult phenomenon. Norman Lumsden, the elderly actor who played the character of "J.R. Hartley", became a national treasure (he lived for nearly another 20 years, to the age of 95). Someone even had the bright idea of cashing in on the ad's success by creating the book the old man had been searching for (and a series of other similar ones). It's a funny old world, to be sure. A very, very charming little video story, though.
Naturally, that got me free-associating to this.... possibly one of the most successful ads ever to appear on British TV. It was repeated for years throughout the 1980s, and on into the 1990s, I think. There were several excellent ads in this series (promoting the 'Yellow Pages' business telephone listings), but this one just took off to another level, developing into a cult phenomenon. Norman Lumsden, the elderly actor who played the character of "J.R. Hartley", became a national treasure (he lived for nearly another 20 years, to the age of 95). Someone even had the bright idea of cashing in on the ad's success by creating the book the old man had been searching for (and a series of other similar ones). It's a funny old world, to be sure. A very, very charming little video story, though.
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