Cinema Adverts for Humber, Raleigh and Rudge Bicycles - Compilation

1938
Silent
1m

A fun selection of vintage animated adverts promoting some of Britain's leading bicycle brands.

This fun selection of 'locals' - simple adverts promoting independent bicycle dealers for screening in local cinemas - takes us back to a lost age of screen advertising. There's none of the sophisticated sleight of hand of modern marketing techniques here: these short and to-the-point ads take the direct approach, with images of young and old enjoying life on two wheels.

The name P. Howell of Reading has long since gone but the premises on Wokingham Road are still trading in bicycles today. Likewise, Woodbridge Road in Guildford is still home to a cycle outlet, albeit under a different name. The others are now consigned to history, as is the Rotherham cinema that once stood opposite Tate's High Grade Cycles.

Animated Ads

British animation won great success as an entertainer, but it has long had a lucrative second career in sales

In cinemas and on TV, animated adverts have frequently outshone the main attraction. In the early days of the cinema, animated ads were often relative epics, with five-minute comic encounters leading to a pack-shot punchline. The arrival of commercial television in 1955 brought the animated ad down to bite-size, but if anything they packed an even harder punch. Advertisers found that animation could soften the edges of a hard sell approach, and bring cartoon brand characters to life.