A 2007 Cadbury’s ad featuring a gorilla drumming to Phil Collins’ 80s hit In The Air Tonight has been voted the nation’s favourite TV ad of all time, in a new public poll.
The poll, commissioned by industry publication Marketing, was published to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the TV ad break on 22 September.
Compare the Market’s talking meerkats series took second place, followed by the Smash Martians, Hamlet Cigars and the Yellow Pages famous ‘J.R Hartley’ ad.
Former Cadbury’s marketing chief Phil Rumbol, now a co-founder at creative agency 101, said: “I think its enduring appeal lies in the fact it’s not telling people a message, it evokes a feeling – and it’s therefore something people enjoy over and over.”
Public top 15
(1002 respondents via TNS OnLineBus excluding don’t knows and other ads)
Cadbury Gorilla 19%
Compare the Market 16%
Smash Martians 11%
Hamlet cigars 7%
Yellow Pages (JR Hartley) 7%
Coca-Cola (I’d like to teach the world to sing) 7%
Budweiser 5%
Guinness 5%
John Lewis (Always a woman) 5%
Levi (Laundrette) 4%
R Whites Lemonade 4%
Honda (Cog) 4%
Sony Bravia (Balls) 3%
The Guardian (Points of View) 2%
Blackcurrant Tango 1%
Methodology: The list of ads put to the public were selected following a month-long social media push for suggestions to find the most popular.
Marketing readers’ top 15 ads
(1521 respondents via Polldaddy survey)
Guinness Surfer 20%
Compare the Market 9%
Blackcurrant Tango 9%
Cadbury Gorilla 8%
R White’s (Secret Lemonade drinker) 6%
John Lewis – Always a woman 6%
Honda – Cog 5%
BT – Maureen Lipman (ology ad) 4%
Sony Bravia 4%
The Guardian (Points of View) 3%
Budweiser – Wassup 3%
Hamlet – Photo Booth 3%
Levi’s – Laundrette 3%
Yellow Pages (JR Hartley) 2%
Coca-Cola – Teach the World to Sing 2%
(10 other ads accounted for 13% of the vote)