Plop, plop
I heard that sound this afternoon. “Plop, plop”. It brought back many memories.
The first was a bit off. I could have sworn that the first commercial on ITV in England was for Alka-Seltzer “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, Oh what a relief it is”.
You each remember that one, and can probably sing the ditty!
I was wrong.
So perhaps was it a commercial for Pepsodent?
“You’ll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent”
Sing that along with me too!
NO, the first commercial on Independent Television in England was for “Gibbs SR”
Here is the script.
It's tingling fresh.
It’s fresh as ice.
It's Gibbs SR Toothpaste, the tingling fresh toothpaste that does your gums good too.
The tingle you get when you brush with SR is much more than a nice taste - it's a tingle of health. It tells you something very important, that you're doing your gums good and toughening them to resist infection.
And as this chart shows, gum infection is the cause of more tooth losses than decay itself.
The tingle in SR comes from sodium ricinoleate - a substance which both dental research and years of use in dental practice have shown to be good for the gums.
So to keep your teeth white as snow, your gums really healthy, and your breath really fresh, see your dentist regularly and brush with SR - the tingling fresh toothpaste for teeth and gums.
Gibbs SR.
Voice-over spoke by Alex Macintosh over a block of SR in ice surrounded by 400 gallons of water syphoned from the gents toilet in the Pathe Studios in Wardour Street, and Meg Smith brushing her teeth.
Other advertisers on day one: Guinness, Batchelor's peas, Brillo, Cadburys, Crosse and Blackwell, Dunlop Rubber, Esso, Ford, Remington Rand, Shredded Wheat, Surf, Watney's, National Benzole, Kraft cheese, Woman, Coty Brown and Polson, Express Dairy, Crompton Lamps, Summer County margarine, Ecko radio/TV sets, Oxo.
The price of a peak time ad on Associated Rediffusion was £975 for one minute, with half a minute costing £650. ATV were a bit cheaper at £950 and £633 respectively. The advertisers on the first day had to pay a premium of £500, which they thought was to go to charity, which in the end it did.
Boo Hoo. It was not “plop plop”. That was the sound I heard today. I had over watered one of the hanging plants in the Lanai, and I heard the “plop plop” of water dripping on the rug. Soon I had a container there to catch the overflow, and to increase the volume of sound.
I’d heard that sound, much to my chagrin, at St. James’s, Cambridge. The roof was leaky, and in heavy, wind-driven rain the old plastic buckets lines the aisles.
But much earlier, I’d heard that “plop plop” at our home in Bristol, where we had a most leaky roof. Out would come the pots, the buckets and the chamber pots to catch the drips in our bedrooms.
In “my time”, without central heating, the primary indoors winter sensation in England was of dampness, and a leaky roof did not help at our home.
One winter we had heavy wind-blown snow which found its way into the eaves. Dad got up there with a bucket (pail) which he filled with snow, and then handed to me to throw out of a bedroom window.
I was sullen, angry, sulking, and did not want to help. Damn it was cold. “Why”, I grumbled, “couldn’t we wait for the snow to melt?” (What a dafty idea!).
I was not a good son that day.
But as all those memories flooded back as I heard the “plop plop” today, I wished that Dad could be here, and that I could have been a much more grateful and loving son.
The first was a bit off. I could have sworn that the first commercial on ITV in England was for Alka-Seltzer “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, Oh what a relief it is”.
You each remember that one, and can probably sing the ditty!
I was wrong.
So perhaps was it a commercial for Pepsodent?
“You’ll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent”
Sing that along with me too!
NO, the first commercial on Independent Television in England was for “Gibbs SR”
Here is the script.
It's tingling fresh.
It’s fresh as ice.
It's Gibbs SR Toothpaste, the tingling fresh toothpaste that does your gums good too.
The tingle you get when you brush with SR is much more than a nice taste - it's a tingle of health. It tells you something very important, that you're doing your gums good and toughening them to resist infection.
And as this chart shows, gum infection is the cause of more tooth losses than decay itself.
The tingle in SR comes from sodium ricinoleate - a substance which both dental research and years of use in dental practice have shown to be good for the gums.
So to keep your teeth white as snow, your gums really healthy, and your breath really fresh, see your dentist regularly and brush with SR - the tingling fresh toothpaste for teeth and gums.
Gibbs SR.
Voice-over spoke by Alex Macintosh over a block of SR in ice surrounded by 400 gallons of water syphoned from the gents toilet in the Pathe Studios in Wardour Street, and Meg Smith brushing her teeth.
Other advertisers on day one: Guinness, Batchelor's peas, Brillo, Cadburys, Crosse and Blackwell, Dunlop Rubber, Esso, Ford, Remington Rand, Shredded Wheat, Surf, Watney's, National Benzole, Kraft cheese, Woman, Coty Brown and Polson, Express Dairy, Crompton Lamps, Summer County margarine, Ecko radio/TV sets, Oxo.
The price of a peak time ad on Associated Rediffusion was £975 for one minute, with half a minute costing £650. ATV were a bit cheaper at £950 and £633 respectively. The advertisers on the first day had to pay a premium of £500, which they thought was to go to charity, which in the end it did.
Boo Hoo. It was not “plop plop”. That was the sound I heard today. I had over watered one of the hanging plants in the Lanai, and I heard the “plop plop” of water dripping on the rug. Soon I had a container there to catch the overflow, and to increase the volume of sound.
I’d heard that sound, much to my chagrin, at St. James’s, Cambridge. The roof was leaky, and in heavy, wind-driven rain the old plastic buckets lines the aisles.
But much earlier, I’d heard that “plop plop” at our home in Bristol, where we had a most leaky roof. Out would come the pots, the buckets and the chamber pots to catch the drips in our bedrooms.
In “my time”, without central heating, the primary indoors winter sensation in England was of dampness, and a leaky roof did not help at our home.
One winter we had heavy wind-blown snow which found its way into the eaves. Dad got up there with a bucket (pail) which he filled with snow, and then handed to me to throw out of a bedroom window.
I was sullen, angry, sulking, and did not want to help. Damn it was cold. “Why”, I grumbled, “couldn’t we wait for the snow to melt?” (What a dafty idea!).
I was not a good son that day.
But as all those memories flooded back as I heard the “plop plop” today, I wished that Dad could be here, and that I could have been a much more grateful and loving son.
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