The Gaviscon Fireman - Advertising Genius?

One has just spent a very emotional weekend in Great Malvern, where one was saying a final farewell to a very dear friend who had left us long before his time was due. One thing is for sure, since his passing ‘Great’ Malvern will no doubt be downgraded to ‘Quite Agreeable’ Malvern, as all of its greatness left when my poppet’s fingers of life began to tinkle the piano keys of eternity. One has sent an email suggesting the name change to the local town council, in case it hadn’t been realised.

Anyhoo … it was while Chu Me – my faithful houseboy – and I were cruising down Her Majesty’s motorways in GUSSET 3 - on our way to Malvern - that one started to think of the wonders of the advertising world. As Chu Me drove beautifully – in truth, he always does – one sat in the luxurious splendour of the back seat listening to the soothing, musical wonderment of Classic FM and during the small advertising section I heard the closing lines, ‘…because I’m the Gaviscon fireman.”

It was at this very point one began to realise just how far advertising has come over recent years. As I took the Pere Ventura Cava from the ice bucket and refilled my flute, one remembered it was not that long ago that, to advertise a product, one would have a very upstanding gentleman smoking a woodbine in his favourite armchair, relaxing after a busy day at the office while his delightfully loving lady wife would enter and hold the product up to the camera – a sparkly glintiness emanating from her eyes and pearly white teeth as she told the audience this product was the one for them. Back then it was oh so simple and straight forward.

Yet, as we have sashayed into the 21st Century, it’s all highly technical now with computerised graphical representations and small cartoon characters – the Gaviscon fireman being a case in point. As a result of this hi-tech cleverness, the advertising industry is now worth almost as much as Dame Crusty.

In Gaviscon’s case, who would have thought that the idea of a well equipped fireman, entering one’s mouth and sliding his hose down the back of one’s throat ... only then to release it’s contents into the lining of one’s stomach with a soothing stroke of the inner wall, would have graphically shown how easy it was to remedy the problem of indigestion … quite remarkable is it not, poppets?

One thinks one shall begin to appreciate the work that is put into these pieces of micro-genius a little more in future.