This week, it’s our CEO Peter Reid’s turn to select a favourite ad from the history books, as part of More About Advertising’s ‘Blast from the past’ series. And he’s picked one of the most celebrated comedic campaigns of all time...

Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet

They don’t make them like this anymore. Not just due to the end of tobacco advertising, but, more so, because the ‘Happiness is a Cigar Called Hamlet’ series were very much of their time – late 80s and early 90s style and comic genre. So much so that they featured in Campaign’s ‘Funniest TV ads of all time’ in 2008 and, in the case of Photo Booth, was voted the ad of the century by a special jury at Cannes in 1997.

It’s just a complete campaign. Whether you most enjoy the iconic Gregor Fisher (later Rab C Nesbitt) Photo Booth or the various Russ Abbott ads (including his (extended) visit to the bunker on the golf course), all are brilliantly conceived and executed, with the same classic comic style shining through.

I’m sure we have all had similar frustrations during the lock-down period – perhaps trying to join your first video call from home! But we all need some light-hearted moments and little bits ‘of happiness’ right now – and these ads are a great reminder of that.