This film is part of Free
Fairy Liquid - Bonus Offer
A commercial for Fairy Liquid that promotes both a special offer and an alternative use for it.
Overview
In terms of visual treatment, this could hardly be more spartan: a woman informs us in impeccably enunciated RP that, presumably for a limited time, Fairy Liquid is coming with a free five ounces (about 25% extra, it would seem), and that purchasers should wash the usual amount of dishes, leaving the bonus detergent for experiments with washing delicate woollens. This is an unusually transparent attempt at increasing sales by suggesting a broader range of potential uses for a familiar product.
Although the product is now so ubiquitous that ‘Fairy Liquid’ is shorthand for ‘detergent’ in the same way that ‘Hoover’ has become a verb, Procter & Gamble only introduced it in 1960, just six years earlier. The aim was to wean consumers off powder-based detergents in favour of something more convenient, and its success was immediate and huge: jingles about “mild green Fairy Liquid” quickly became common currency. Besides washing woollens, another spin-off benefit was that the empty squeeze bottles could be repurposed into everything from makeshift vases to children’s space rockets.
Related
Domestic Help Domestic Help
Advert 1952 2 mins
A cup of Horlicks helps a struggling husband bring home the bacon in this 1950s advert.
Crowning Glory Crowning Glory
Advert 1936 14 mins
Limp-haired lover Betty rekindles romance with dashing Dick by swapping to Amami Shampoo and Wave Set in this 1930s advertising film.
Ask My Mum Ask My Mum
Advert 1940 3 mins
Snow White wouldn’t look like Snow White without her special washing powder.
Eldorado Ice Cream Ad; Beautiful Women Eldorado Ice Cream Ad; Beautiful Women
Advert 1937 1 mins Silent
An ice cream a day keeps the wrinkles away…
The Clue of the Gleaming Hair (Eve Shampoo Advert) The Clue of the Gleaming Hair (Eve Shampoo Advert)
Advert 1937 6 mins Silent
Luscious hair solves a mysterious disappearance.
Fairy Liquid - Nanette Newman Fairy Liquid - Nanette Newman
Advert 1980 1 mins
Stepford wife Nanette Newman becomes the face of mild green Fairy Liquid in this iconic advert.
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.
New Perspectives: Oldboy New Perspectives: Oldboy
Short documentary 2024 4 mins
Discover why Dan George of Northumbria University believes everyone should experience Oldboy at least once.
New Perspectives: Wings of Desire New Perspectives: Wings of Desire
Short documentary 2024 4 mins
Trixie Parkin-Christie of Northumbria University offers fresh insight into why Wings of Desire remains essential viewing.