Some tea commercials are pretty entertaining, and it is interesting seeing how different countries have approached advertising at different times. I thought this was a funny one from Uni-President out of Taiwan:
Tea commercials
This Tetley USA ad from 1978 is interesting because the entire pitch seems to be based on taking advantage of consumer ignorance over tea; it promotes that their tea brews darker than their competitors, even though that does not necessarily say anything about the flavor. 
This one actually got a CBS news follow-up:
Tetley UK meanwhile were using the "Tetley Tea Folk" animated mascots to promote the merits of teabags, which had not yet become the dominant way of brewing tea in the UK, I think.
This one actually got a CBS news follow-up:
Tetley UK meanwhile were using the "Tetley Tea Folk" animated mascots to promote the merits of teabags, which had not yet become the dominant way of brewing tea in the UK, I think.
My guess is that it was targeting the Japanese market; sometimes there is more international crossover than folks might expect when it comes to advertising. For example, this Nestea commercial from 1985:
Other versions from 1985:
Served warm for a colder climate.
With artificial sweetener for the USA.
An ad from 1968 for the Canadian tea blend Red Rose; apparently if you drink too much tea you will turn into a strange dancing man who uses tea to smooth over social class tensions.
It's interesting that the only thing specific to the blend mentioned as a selling point is that the teabags are larger; I guess by 1968 the fact that with loose tea you can use as much or as little tea as you'd like was fading away? Otherwise it is hard to understand how the problem exists that this solution solves.
It's interesting that the only thing specific to the blend mentioned as a selling point is that the teabags are larger; I guess by 1968 the fact that with loose tea you can use as much or as little tea as you'd like was fading away? Otherwise it is hard to understand how the problem exists that this solution solves.
A targeted ad from Snapple in 1993:
This series of Snapple ads played a big part in turning Americans into bottled tea drinkers; before the early 1990s, tea was still mostly either drunk in teabag or instant form. Sadly I don't know much about the details here, although I think it coincided with the introduction of a new method of bottling tea that removed some unpleasant aftertastes that had been present in previous bottled versions.
This series of Snapple ads played a big part in turning Americans into bottled tea drinkers; before the early 1990s, tea was still mostly either drunk in teabag or instant form. Sadly I don't know much about the details here, although I think it coincided with the introduction of a new method of bottling tea that removed some unpleasant aftertastes that had been present in previous bottled versions.
A 1950s American-targeted one from Canada's Salada Tea:
This one is a little interesting because the ending slogan, "America's 'Quality' Tea", seems likely from an older ad campaign idea. Maybe not obvious, but by the way the announcer pronounced "quality" at the end, he was likely using the term in the 1920s Emily Post type of definition, where quality was a euphemism for high social class, a bit out of place with the rest of the ad. For a social-class based ad, one would have expected a different tone than ice-skating clocks, impatient ice-cubes, and singing jingles. I think they originally wanted to just use the "Enjoy Yourself" slogan from the middle. Perhaps the ending slogan was the boss's idea? 
In the 1920s, Salada was known for its skill in creating publicity stunts, where newspapers would cover the stunt as news and in the process provide Salada with advertising.
This one is a little interesting because the ending slogan, "America's 'Quality' Tea", seems likely from an older ad campaign idea. Maybe not obvious, but by the way the announcer pronounced "quality" at the end, he was likely using the term in the 1920s Emily Post type of definition, where quality was a euphemism for high social class, a bit out of place with the rest of the ad.
For a social-class based ad, one would have expected a different tone than ice-skating clocks, impatient ice-cubes, and singing jingles. I think they originally wanted to just use the "Enjoy Yourself" slogan from the middle. Perhaps the ending slogan was the boss's idea? - 1920-publicitystunt.jpg (104.99 KiB) Viewed 15866 times
- 1920-publicitystunt2.jpg (172.13 KiB) Viewed 15865 times
In the 1920s, Salada was known for its skill in creating publicity stunts, where newspapers would cover the stunt as news and in the process provide Salada with advertising.
Brooke Bond always seemed to pick regional names for their teas, in contrast with Lipton who tried to use Yellow Label for everything even when the tea inside was not the same.
For instance, Brooke Bond Rickshaw in Hong Kong, a name which outside of Hong Kong seemed to play into stereotypes while within Hong Kong played into nostalgia.
Or Brooke Bond Super Dust, a name that would have seemed very odd outside of India, but that worked quite well inside for describing a fresh dust-grade tea liked by a variety of tea-drinkers.
Both from 1985.
For instance, Brooke Bond Rickshaw in Hong Kong, a name which outside of Hong Kong seemed to play into stereotypes while within Hong Kong played into nostalgia.
Or Brooke Bond Super Dust, a name that would have seemed very odd outside of India, but that worked quite well inside for describing a fresh dust-grade tea liked by a variety of tea-drinkers.
Both from 1985.
Brooke Bond also did this with the content of their ads, such as this 1985 PG Tips ad -- it was apparently quite popular in the UK as a type of old-fashioned funny-animal commercial, but would have been received very negatively in the U.S. due to the history here of using chimps to depict Black Americans in a negative light.mbanu wrote: ↑Wed Feb 16, 2022 11:43 pmBrooke Bond always seemed to pick regional names for their teas, in contrast with Lipton who tried to use Yellow Label for everything even when the tea inside was not the same.
For instance, Brooke Bond Rickshaw in Hong Kong, a name which outside of Hong Kong seemed to play into stereotypes while within Hong Kong played into nostalgia.
A fairly popular ad in the American South for Luzianne tea, featuring the musician Burl Ives -- ran from at least 1979 to 1985.
Interesting because by British tea assessment, a tea that did not "cream down" (grow cloudy) when cool would be a sign of poor quality, but this made it more popular as a Southern iced tea.
Interesting because by British tea assessment, a tea that did not "cream down" (grow cloudy) when cool would be a sign of poor quality, but this made it more popular as a Southern iced tea.