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.
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A
Inside Film 2024 22 mins
The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.
The West Case The West Case
Action and Adventure 1923 28 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
Enter the Scala!!! Enter the Scala!!!
Inside Film 2024 16 mins
Filmmakers Jane Giles and Ali Catterall discuss their documentary Scala!!!, revisiting the legendary and inspirational cinema venue and some of the most notorious films that screened there.
Smith Smith
Charity appeal 1939 10 mins
Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.
An Airman's Letter to His Mother An Airman's Letter to His Mother
Documentary 1941 6 mins
A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.
The NHS75 Celebration The NHS75 Celebration
Short documentary 2023 3 mins
Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.