Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet
{{Short description|British advertising campaign}}
File:Happiness_is_a_cigar_called_Hamlet_(1984).jpeg
"Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet" was an advertising campaign for Hamlet Cigars, which ran on television from 1966 until all tobacco advertising on television was banned in the UK in 1991.{{Cite web |url=http://www.newash.org.uk/ash_2cb51gz3_archive.htm |title=Tobacco Key Dates in the Campaign to ban Tobacco Advertising {{!}} ASH |access-date=2008-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003005919/http://www.newash.org.uk/ash_2cb51gz3_archive.htm |archive-date=2011-10-03 |url-status=dead }} The campaign returned in cinemas in 1996, continuing there until 1999,{{Cite web |url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-60411180 |title=Happiness.. WAS a cigar ad by Hamlet; CAMPAIGN GOES UP IN SMOKE {{!}} The Mirror |access-date=2019-01-07 |archive-date=2021-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022054457/https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-60411180 |url-status=dead }} with the final commemorative advert and the modified tagline, "Happiness will always be a cigar called Hamlet."[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3grfClrUurY Hamlet Cigars - Farewell (1999)]
Origin and premise
The slogan itself had appeared in newspaper advertisements by early November 1965.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-standard-happiness-is-a-cigar-ca/166610266/ |title=Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet. |newspaper=Evening Standard |location=London |page=9 |date=November 2, 1965 |accessdate=February 24, 2025 |via=newspapers.com}} The television advertising campaign was created by the Collett Dickenson Pearce agency in 1966.{{cn|date=February 2025}} The premise is that a character finds themselves in an awkward or embarrassing situation before lighting and smoking a Hamlet cigar to console themselves, accompanied by an excerpt from a jazz rendition of Johann Sebastian Bach's Air on the G String, played by Jacques Loussier and his trio, which is still frequently associated with the brand.Brand Strategy. February 2006. "[http://www.brandstrategy.co.uk/issues/2006/February/Orchestrating_a_sound_strategy/Browse.view Orchestrating a sound strategy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121111744/http://www.brandstrategy.co.uk/issues/2006/February/Orchestrating_a_sound_strategy/Browse.view |date=2008-11-21 }}, Lesson Four: Be creative, be distinct and remember that nobody is listening!". Accessed 8 August 2006.
The advertisements featured in television, radio and cinema commercials, various print media, and on billboards. One advert featured the 1982 Channel 4 blocks forming the number 5, then rewinding and then forming a jumbled mess, which then turned into a face with a cigar, making it smile. This advert was played from 1982 until 1989.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/FegmPKnARuo|title=Channel 4 Ident - Hamlet Cigar Advert|website=YouTube}}
Examples of advertisements
An advert from the series, produced in 1986 by Collett Dickenson Pearce,{{cite web|last=Mahoney|first=Mick|date=25 October 2018|title=Best ads in 50 years: Mastering the one-shot ad with Hamlet Cigars|url=https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/best-ads-50-years-mastering-one-shot-ad-hamlet-cigars/1496576|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2021|website=Campaign}} recreated a skit from the debut episode of BBC Scotland sketch show Naked Video which first aired just months earlier.{{Citation|title="Naked Video" Episode #1.1 (TV Episode 1986) - IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1412923/reference|access-date=2021-01-08}} The show's unkempt Baldy Man character (as played by Gregor Fisher) struggles to pose calmly in a photo booth, and after his height-adjustable seat drops him almost out of the frame, is heard to strike a match. As Fisher's face reenters the screen, he exhales smoke and smiles as a voiceover reads the slogan. The cigar, its packaging and even the brand's logo never appear on the screen.{{Cite web|title=Hamlet Cigars 'Photo Booth' TV advert - YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVgsoxjT05g |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/oVgsoxjT05g |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live|access-date=2021-01-08|website=www.youtube.com| date=20 March 2012 }}{{cbignore}}
Another ad showed Christopher Columbus aboard the Santa Maria being advised to turn around or the ship will fall off the edge of the world. He rebukes his advisors by saying "Nonsense! The world is round". Next moment the look-out on the crow's nest shouts "Captain! The edge of the World!". On hearing this Columbus takes out a cigar. As the "Happiness" line is being said, Columbus is seen smoking on deck as he and the ship both fall off the edge of the world.
One advertisement created a diversion by appearing to be advertising beer: a man, dying of thirst in a desert, finds a can of Heineken but accidentally spills it all into the sand; so instead he lights up a Hamlet cigar.
Not all of the advertisements in the series featured humans; one advert showed a production line where robots were being manufactured, but due to an error, one of the robots has its head placed back-to-front. On realising this, the said robot opens his chest to reveal a Hamlet pack and begins smoking, and the "Happiness" line is delivered in a metallic-sounding voice. Another 1980s advert depicted a dalek being unable to climb a flight of stairs, before producing a pack of Hamlet cigars from within its casing and using a claw-like arm to smoke it through the head casing, delivering the line "Hamlet, the mild cigar" in the dalek's distinctive voice.
=Celebrity appearances=
Numerous celebrities appeared in the adverts, including Ian Botham,History of Advertising Trust Archive. "[http://www.hatads.org.uk/library8.htm#6 CDP: one of the greatest advertising agencies ever] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812233643/http://www.hatads.org.uk/library8.htm#6 |date=2022-08-12 }}". Accessed 8 August 2006. Ronnie Corbett, and Gregor Fisher in the guise of his "Baldy Man" character (from Naked Video), attempting to use a photo booth{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0SbVFxl64A | title=Hamlet cigars - photobooth - YouTube | website=YouTube | date=10 July 2006 }} and later attempting to get a family portrait.
The actor and comedian Russ Abbot spent years advertising Hamlet cigars.The World According to the Man in the Pub 2 by Robert Anwood; Published by Marks & Spencer plc; 2007 Edition; Page 163; ISBN 978-0-09-192764-6
Ban on tobacco advertising
Since the UK banned all tobacco advertising on television, cinema and radio in the 1990s,{{Cite web|date=2000-11-09|title=Tobacco advertising: your questions answered|url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2000/nov/09/policy.health2|access-date=2021-01-08|website=the Guardian|language=en}} as did much of Europe during that decade, the adverts are no longer aired. The final cinema adverts were initially shown from 1999 with the special slogan "Happiness will always be a cigar called Hamlet,"{{Cite web|date=1999-11-04|title=UK tobacco industry rejects plea to revive voluntary advertising ban|url=https://www.marketingweek.com/uk-tobacco-industry-rejects-plea-to-revive-voluntary-advertising-ban/|access-date=2021-01-08|website=Marketing Week|language=en}} although they reverted to the original tagline for a period after the UK tobacco industry refused to cease advertising voluntarily. It was eventually forced to do so by the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002.{{Citation|title=Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002|date=2020-02-19|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tobacco_Advertising_and_Promotion_Act_2002&oldid=941580732|work=Wikipedia|language=en|access-date=2021-01-08}}
Recognition
The advert was listed as the eighth greatest television advertisement of all time by Channel 4 in 2000. Both the original Channel 4 ident and the Hamlet advert spoofing the ident were made by Martin Lambie-Nairn.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/inside-story-martin-lambienairn--king-of-the-idents-760463.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220509/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/inside-story-martin-lambienairn--king-of-the-idents-760463.html |archive-date=2022-05-09 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title = Inside Story: Martin Lambie-Nairn - King of the idents|website = Independent.co.uk|date = 26 November 2007}} Furthermore, the advert was ranked as the ninth greatest advertisement in an ITV list made in 2005{{cite web |url=http://www.thinkbox.tv/server/show/nav.943 |title=Classic Ads : Spots and Spot Innovation : TV Toolbox : Thinkbox |accessdate=2009-04-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305130459/http://thinkbox.tv/server/show/nav.943 |archivedate=2009-03-05 }} and as the third-funniest television advertisement ever by Campaign Live in 2008.{{Cite web|url=http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/865453/|title=The Top 10 funniest TV ads of all time}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FegmPKnARuo|A Hamlet advert by Martin Lambie-Nairn].
- [http://www.ford1.demon.co.uk/hamlet.htm Hamlet Cigar Cartoons] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060617201205/http://www.ford1.demon.co.uk/hamlet.htm |date=2006-06-17 }}
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Category:1966 in British television
Category:Advertising campaigns
Category:British advertising slogans