Gibbs S.R.: The Warning
An amazingly complex cinema ad, disguised as a trailer for a film that never existed
Don't you hate it when the trailer has all the best bits of the film? In this case it has the only bits, as the film it appears to advertise was never actually made. In this astonishingly elaborate cinema advert, the mysterious knife-throwing stranger is red herring; the real warning is tender gums as a sign of tooth decay. Look out for future Carry On star Charles Hawtrey on the piano.
Advertising film for Gibbs S.R. toothpaste
A mock trailer for the film "The Warning" is introduced by a man. Janet is a
singer who rebuffs John but her life comes to be haunted by the repeated
appearance of a thrown warning dagger, at an audition, on a film set, and at
the return of John. She is kidnapped, but freed by John and the police after a
prolonged fight, in which the dagger thrower is caught. The introducer returns
and, whilst putting on a white coat revealing that he is a dentist, talks about
the kind of warning you get from your toothbrush when you have tender gums. He
recommends Gibbs SR, which contains the ingredients that dentists use to fight
gum disease.
Tags
Cinema Advertising Comes of Age
Through WWII and the postwar austerity years and into the 'never had it so good' 1950s - when it had to compete with the new commercial television service - cinema advertising offered a bigger bang for your advertising buck.
31 videos in this collection
Music Hath Charms
The Warning (Gibbs S.R. Toothpaste)
Every Man His Own Housewife (Persil Advert)
Let's Ask the Ladies
Murder in the Air
Bee Wise!
Sketchbook of Fashion (Knights Castile Advert)
Aladdin and the Junior Genie
Signs of the Times No.3
Fable of the Fabrics
It all Depends Which Way You Look at It (Solidox Advert)
Signs of the Times No 196
A Thief in the Night
Change for the Better
Little Miss Muddlehead (Rinso Advert)
What's Missing from this Picture?
Signs of the Times
Signs of the Times
Mousewife's Choice
Mrs Mopp's Birthday
The Trawl in Action
Signs of the Times No.2
Molar Mischief (Solidox Advert)
Shippam's Guide to Opera
Put Una Money for There
Signs of the Times No.58
Says Sirdani
Thief in the Night (Persil Advert)
Changing Hues