Findus: Fishsticks

Findus: Fishsticks

Three-shot advert showing the package, several sizzling fish fingers, and a child gratefully eating them.

As the child at the end of this ad beams with delight after having been fed Findus Fish Sticks, the soundtrack exclaims 'Freshissimo!', a made-up word that creates the impression that despite the product being intended for the freezer, the cooked end product tastes even fresher than merely fresh. Since fish sticks (or fingers) are now such a ubiquitous part of the British child's diet, it's strange to recall that they'd only been introduced to the UK in 1955, just eight years earlier.

Originating in Sweden in 1945, the Findus brand was marketed in Britain between 1958 and 2016, when it was finally discontinued. Their Fish Sticks were a rival to Birds Eye Fish Fingers, which had been devised by company founder Clarence Birdseye in 1927 but not manufactured in bulk until the 1950s. They were an immediate hit, and by the time the Findus commercial appeared fish fingers already accounted for 10% of all British fish sales. At that time, less than half the British population owned a freezer, meaning that the Fish Sticks would have had to be cooked immediately after purchase.

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Tastes Great!

A smorgasbord of culinary delights and thirst-quenching refreshment awaits in this collection of food and drink adverts.

You are what you eat? Advertisers have long presented our food choices as much more than just a cure for hunger, but as a key lifestyle decision. The right purchase can help make you who you want to be; keep you and your kids happy, fit and healthy; save you time and keep you on the go; or impress your dinner party guests of your 'home cooking' skills - all as part of a balanced diet, naturally. And for liquid refreshment, try our choice of soft, hard, hot and cold drinks commercials, offering everything from social pick-me-up to elixir of family contentment. Cheers!

15 videos in this collection

Love on the Range

  • 1939

Cadbury's Chocolate The Factory in a Garden

  • 1931

Lyons Ice Cream - Kinema

  • 1934

Shippam's Chicken Supreme

  • 1960

Heinz Tomato Ketchup : Fish Patties

  • 1960

Heinz Baked Beans Common Market

  • 1972
This early Cadbury advert plays like a surreal outtake from 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'.

Elsie and the Brown Bunny

  • Bournville
  • 1921
Far-out guys and groovy gals drop doses of good strong coffee in this psychedelic 1968 ad for the hot black stuff.

Good Strong Coffee

  • 1968

Heinz - Egg Box

  • 1983

Lyons Ice Cream Commercial

  • 1938

RHM Nimble: Mini Car: 86108

  • 1964

Findus: Fishsticks: 85406

  • 1963

Carling Black Label Bike Girl

  • 1971

Egg Marketing Board: Have a Smashing Time (Beryl Reid)

  • 1966

Nimble Bread: Lunch Date

  • 1961
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