Shippam's Guide to Opera

1 Jan 1955
Sound
2m

Charming fish paste cinema ad

What makes a more fitting pairing than meat paste and opera?

Everyone knows that nothing goes better with opera than a smearing of meat paste. But it took the innovative Larkins animation studio to bring the pairing to life: a chorus of chickens dancing in front of the jars they will soon be ground into; a duet between a pilchard and a tomato. The creative duo behind the ad, Vera Linnecar and Nancy Hanna, were an equally fine pairing. After working together at Pearl & Dean they joined Biographic studio with Bob Godfrey in 1957, forming a trio with co-founder Keith Learner after Bob left and working into the 1980s.

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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.