1970 – 1983
Let Your Fingers Do The Walking
The Let Your Fingers Do The Walking campaign ran during the 1970’s. This campaign kicked off the process of raising awareness of Yellow Pages as a brand and introduced the Walking Fingers logo.
1983 – 1995
Fly Fishing
Fly Fishing launched in 1983, and starred the now famous JR Hartley character who used Yellow Pages to find a copy of his book. This ad has been affectionately parodied many times, most notably by Jasper Carrott and Mel Smith & Griff Rhys Jones. Bike, also from 1983, featured a father who used the directory to find a bike for his son’s birthday.
1983
Signal Box
Signal Box, made in 1985 told the story of a young boy who used the Yellow Pages to search for a Hornby signal box for his fathers model railway.
Not Just For The Nasty Things In Life
The Not Just For The Nasty Things In Life campaign launched in 1983 and ran for over 12 years. The ads demonstrated that Yellow Pages could be used for a wide range of purchases, concentrating on positive ‘wants’, rather than emergency ‘needs’. Some of the most famous ads from this campaign include:
Mistletoe Christmas
In 1992, the Mistletoe Christmas ad aired for the first time. The ad features a little boy standing on a copy of the directory to kiss a girl under the mistletoe. The ad was updated in 2001 with a more modern directory cover.
Party Party
Party Party, made in 1989 told the story of a teenager who needed Yellow Pages to locate a French Polisher to repair a table damaged in a party before his parents returned home. Ted The Gardener, also from 1989, featured a couple who find a motorised lawnmower through Yellow Pages for their faithful elderly gardener. This ad has also been affectionately spoofed many times since.
A New Passion
JR Hartley returned to the screen in 1994 in A New Passion where he gave up fishing on the advice of his doctor and used Yellow Pages to take up golf.
1994
Little Red Book
Business Pages launched the Little Red Book ad which contained a set of vignettes featuring people in business requiring different goods and services. These ads were only shown in Business Pages directory distribution areas.
1996
Not Just For The Nasty Things In Life
In a move away from the Not Just For The Nasty Things In Life campaign, the Yellow Ages TV campaign was launched. The ad ran as a celebration of Yellow Pages’ 30th birthday and featured nostalgic clips from the last 30 years juxtaposed with different classifications.
1997
Life TV
The Life TV ad launched. This ad, filmed in black and white followed a man from birth to marriage, with each stage juxtaposed with different Yellow Pages classifications.
1998
All you need for all you want
A new TV ad campaign All you need for all you want launched, with ads entitled Cleaners and Car Stereo. The campaign portrayed Yellow Pages as part of everyday life and demonstrated the range of goods and services you can obtain through the directory. Cleaners featured a man turning to Yellow Pages after a neighbour mistakes his untidiness for a ransacked flat. Car Stereo told the story of a husband trying and failing to install a car stereo. His long suffering wife used Yellow Pages to find an audio technician.
Machine
A new Business Pages ad Machine, also launched in 1998. This demonstrated the difficulty in obtaining the right goods and services through a man playing on a fairground machine. The prizes he tries to pick up with the claw represent the services he needs to source. This ad was only shown in Business Pages distribution areas.
1999
We’re Talking Solutions
A Talking Pages TV campaign, We’re Talking Solutions, ran featuring Graham Norton as the voice-over in a series of humorous ads which focused on the number to call and reasons to use the service when out and about, such as taxis, takeaways and clubs.
2001
Bagel and House
Later in the year, Yellow Pages, Talking Pages and Yell.com were advertised together for the first time in Bagel and House. The ads raised awareness of Yell as a company, and highlighted the different channels of information available from Yell: the book, the phone and the net.
Just Yell
The first Yell.com TV campaign Just Yell, launched targeting men and women with Internet access. The ad features a series of 5 vignettes showing different usage scenarios.
2003
Haircut and Yoga
December saw the launch of two television adverts for the Yellow Pages 118 24 7 phone service, based on the Yellow Pages Directory adverts featuring James Nesbitt. The adverts appeared in the same advert breaks as our Yellow Pages directory advertising. Yellow Pages 'Haircut' and 'Yoga' adverts appeared first, followed by the 118 24 7 adverts later in the break.
2004
Tent and Elves
In May 2004, 2 new TV ads were aired – 'Tent' and 'Elves' – showing James Nesbitt in awkward situations and how the phone service Yellow Pages 118 42 7 comes to his rescue. These ran from August to October 04.
The adverts can be seen by clicking below. |