The Spirit of His Forefathers

1900
Silent
2m

One of the earliest surviving British adverts

There's some dram-antic stuff in this 30-second commercial from the dawn of cinema history. Dewar's had used the idea of a laird's ancestors being lured down from their painted portraits to share a whisky in a variety of advertising media before moving image came along. This version is the second surviving example on film, with an earlier American production of the same concept made by the International Film Company in 1897.

This British production made a late reappearance as part of a 1977 television commercial for Dewar's under the title The Whisky of His Ancestors to promote their advertising heritage.

The Art of Advertising

There's an art to selling, as any ad man or woman will tell you. And Britain's screen advertising has been among the most artistically ambitious of all.

This collection highlights the evolution of an extraordinarily dynamic industry, from its first faltering steps in the earliest days of film, to the highly sophisticated mini-masterpieces of the television age. It showcases the astonishing variety of approaches, strategies and tricks advertisers have used to part us with our money - entertaining us even as they subtly manipulate us with promises of a new, tastier, brighter, cleaner, healthier and better life.