Heinz Chicken Soup: Mother Hubbard

1970
Sound
1m

Narrated in verse, this ad tells the story of young Mother Hubbard and how her day was improved by a tin of Heinz soup.

Young Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard at lunchtime for something to eat...' This catchy commercial offers a witty variation on the age-old nursery rhyme with a happier ending: instead of her cupboard being bare, Mother Hubbard (substantially younger than tradition normally suggests) finds a tin of Heinz Cream of Chicken Soup that proves to be the perfect relaxant between finishing domestic chores and coping with the children coming home from school. That said, the poor dog still has none.

When this ad was broadcast, the American company Heinz had been selling various tinned soups in the UK for sixty years, starting with tomato and rapidly branching out into a much wider range, although never precisely the '57 varieties' promised by the advertising: that was merely the firm's founder's perceived lucky number. By the time this ad was made, the product was so familiar that Heinz didn't feel the need to discuss the contents of the soup in any detail: it just reminds people of its existence and posits an everyday situation that might encourage them to buy a can.

Food, Glorious Food!

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