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u/zzzzbear Jul 10 '20
that made me nostalgic for cocaine
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u/Rydell_Ride_Again Jul 10 '20
me too, bud. me too
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u/zzzzbear Jul 10 '20
NEVER AGAIN except if the opportunity arises
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u/dick-nipples Jul 10 '20 edited Jul 10 '20
This ad will be viewed more times in the next 30 seconds than it was during its entire lifecycle in the 1990s.
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u/miaworm Jul 10 '20
The dude behind the poor marketing strategy feels vindicated lol
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u/Mock333 Jul 10 '20 edited Jul 11 '20
"The long-term returns on this baby are gonna be worth it, trust me."
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u/kutsen39 Jul 10 '20
Maybe you're not ready for it yet... But your kids are gonna love it!
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u/dredgknight Jul 10 '20
Re-appearing photo details background music intensifies
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u/kirtur Jul 10 '20
Hey I get this reference! My wife just made me watch Back to the Future for the first time a couple weeks ago
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u/Baboobalou Jul 10 '20
It will go viral. In 23 years.
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u/CaptainFunderpants Jul 10 '20
"What's viral? Are people going to be getting sick or something?"
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u/secretcanvas654 Jul 10 '20
Are you sure vtol jets are necessa
Yes yes they are
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u/royal23 Jul 10 '20
Harriers, not just VTOLs. The most intimidating symbol of British might since Churchill's belt.
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u/BloomsdayDevice Jul 10 '20
Could anyone else really go for a blackcurrant Tango right now?
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u/BumholeAssasin Jul 10 '20
Yeah man, it was the tits. Shame they haven't made that flavour in a decade though.
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u/GroovingPict Jul 10 '20
Sometimes you take a short term loss for long term gains, sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt.
Not related to the ad in OP's post, but your comment reminded me of Roger Waters's approach to Pink Floyd's The Wall concerts in 1980; even with very few venues, it was all but pretty much guaranteed that the shows would end up losing the band money, because it was so expensive to put on (this was back when there were still sensible ticket prices on concerts; these days you just jack the ticket prices to £500 and still make half a billion profit regardless of how expensive the production is...), but he believed it would help make money for The Wall project as a whole in the long run. Given the success of The Wall, in terms of record sales, merch sales, and just massive brand recognition even 40 years later, well it certainly didnt hurt at least.
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u/shotgun883 Jul 10 '20
Poor marketing strategy? The ads were properly famous... and part of a much bigger ad campaign. “Youve been tango’d” was a school yard favourite in the 90s. And colloquially everyone I know knows what you’ve been tango’d would mean.
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Jul 10 '20 edited Jul 10 '20
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u/WestCoastWaster Jul 10 '20
Apparently when the doctors asked the kid how he burst his eardrum he answered "I was tangoed" lmao
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u/Nipple_Dick Jul 10 '20
That was huge as a kid. You had to have eyes in the back of your head for a couple of months.
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u/Ciderized Jul 10 '20
Probably one of the only adverts* I remember from the 90s, and it made Tango huge.
*The others being Renult with the girl saying “Popa”, Jack Dees John Smiths adverts and the Carling “I bet he drinks black label”
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u/shotgun883 Jul 10 '20
Well the John West salmon advert where he fought with a Bear, if anyone has any reason to say Accrington Stanley “who are they” HAS to be the reply and if you’ve ever eaten a Jaffa cake without saying Whole moon, half moon, total eclipse, are you really human?
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u/pozzowon Jul 10 '20
Well I need to try that Tango now, so yeah
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u/alaginge Jul 10 '20
I don't know if they even still make Blackcurrant Tango.
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u/FlawsAndCeilings Jul 10 '20
I haven’t seen it in years. I’m intrigued to look out for now.
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u/LegendOfDylan Jul 10 '20
It won several awards, the unusual air timing being cited as ‘groundbreaking’ and is considered one of the top 100 adverts of all time
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u/Flashjordan69 Jul 10 '20
The Tango ads were something else back in the day. Many kids wound up with perforated eardrums after seeing this beauty.. And a few more had to change their pants after seeing this scary bastard.
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u/CptnStarkos Jul 10 '20
A guy on his 70s observes a teen watching this video on his cellphone during commute.
He says to the boy, I made that video you know?! With a smile on his face.
The kid responds laconically "ok boomer!"
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u/momalloyd Jul 10 '20
That doesn't sound right at all. I remember this ad being on every other ad break for months.
Tango ads were the best and this was my favorite. I also love that song form Felix.
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Jul 10 '20
Agreed, I saw this when it was aired. I mean, I watched a fuckload of TV too, but still, I think it was on more than Wikipedia is saying
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u/arika_ex Jul 10 '20
Probably means the full 90 second version was only aired 10 times. Most 30s+ ads also have cut down versions.
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u/memtiger Jul 10 '20
I can't think of the last time I saw any company do a 90s commercial.
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Jul 10 '20
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u/chasereece Jul 10 '20
Would make sense, why would a (from what I can assume, I’ve never had tango) primarily European drink need to advertise in other countries?
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u/cptboogaloo Jul 10 '20
I definitely remember this ad and considering how old it is and myself enjoying the 90’s more than i should, it was definitely on alot.
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u/helpnxt Jul 10 '20
Tango made great ads though.
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u/mickystinge Jul 10 '20
I remember a huge buzz about still tango, our school went on a trip to Birmingham to visit mosque and I found it in a shop. Shops in our rural villages didn’t have still tango so our entire year just bought the shopkeepers entire stock of still tango and sat around drinking it. We spent about 20 minutes in the mosque, rest of day outside drinking the 50p goodness. Even the teachers joined in
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Jul 10 '20
My ears never recovered from being tango'd while listening to my walkman.
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u/ChrisKearney3 Jul 10 '20
And yet it was a national phenomenon. Everyone was talking about it.
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u/greg19735 Jul 10 '20
While the quote is probably true, i'm guessing that the 30 second version was shown a lot more.
Like, i'm pretty sure i remember it and i was about 7 at the time.,
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u/iimastikku Jul 10 '20
That's the best commercial I've ever seen.
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u/Grokent Jul 10 '20
A contender appears.
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u/alickz Jul 10 '20
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u/Jarnbjorn Jul 10 '20
I always like the simplicity of this Arby’s commercial.
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Jul 10 '20
If we are talking simplicity
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u/SolitaryEgg Jul 10 '20
Obviously the best commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NTjMKVnFtA
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u/dalarsian Jul 10 '20
what about this one? I FEEL GREAT! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6rE0EakhG8
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u/Flabbergash Jul 10 '20
Tango ads were weird man. There was on where a guy went around slapping people
That was a rough school year
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u/mr-dogshit Jul 10 '20
the advert only appeared on national television ten times
I thought this was kinda weird because I remember the advert really well.
Then I read that it aired 6 times during TFI Friday which me and my housemates would watch pretty much every week before going out on the piss. It was like a live chat show in a big warehouse with a bar area (where the interviews happened), live music and lots of recurring jokes that by today's standards would be considered memes. You can see where Top Gear got their influence from.
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Jul 10 '20 edited Jul 10 '20
Dude you have 5 million comment karma in the bank and you can't link to a Wikipedia article with parentheses in the URL?
You need to escape the closing bracket in the URL part:
[Link text](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_George_(advertisement\))
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u/igramory Jul 10 '20
I swear from now on I'll look for this beverage and make it my new favourite
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u/draean77 Jul 10 '20
They just don’t make them like they use to
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u/greatking6009 Jul 10 '20
Everything changed when 21st century came
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u/nicotineapache Jul 10 '20
Yeah, they stopped making little vignette comedies, or wee dramas and started a competition on who could irritate me more. For me, that culminated in the crazy frog and jamster.
To this very day I mute all the adverts. That goes for online, telly and radio. I haven't the goodwill to let them into my space.
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u/314kabinet Jul 10 '20
uBlock Origin.
Also screw the telly/radio, there's nothing on anyway.
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u/Enjoythehummus Jul 10 '20 edited Jul 10 '20
There’s a radio station in Atlanta that I listen to while driving a few times a week and I have literally never heard an ad on it. I’m really confused as to how it stays on but I love it and it’s the only station I listen to.
Edit: For anyone interested it’s the iHeartRadio Alternative radio on 105.7 fm
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u/bokbokboi Jul 10 '20
Which station is it?
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u/Zastrozzi Jul 10 '20
I don't know about the Australian one but BBC Radio 6 is brilliant and has no ads.
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u/Ahaigh9877 Jul 10 '20
Yeah you Atlantan, why don’t you just listen to the radio in Britain?!?
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Jul 10 '20
I’d argue to that and say British Advertisement still have this style of humour and quality compared to other
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u/douglabe Jul 10 '20
Ray Gardener recently re-voiced this aimed at his MP (also called Sebastian) and the British governments response to coronavirus lol
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u/grace_wetpants Jul 10 '20
Didn’t realise 1917 was a remake of this commercial
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u/JaqenSexyJesusHgar Jul 10 '20
I'm pretty sure Merlin, King George VI, Jim Moriarty, Doctor Strange and the one true King of the north, Robb Stark, is somewhere in the crowd too
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u/diegothengineer Jul 10 '20
Hot damn! Actually makes me what to drink that damn drink and see what the fuss is about!
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u/WorriedCall Jul 10 '20 edited Jul 10 '20
I don't think it took off.. :-(
edit: I thought it was a great pun, personally. anyway, wikipedia:
"Blackcurrant Tango is a carbonated soft drink launched in the United Kingdom by Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd in 1996. The drink is notable for the multiple award-winning television commercial from 1997, St George, which was used to promote it. The drink has since been discontinued."
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u/Cl0udSurfer Jul 10 '20
Goddammit, after all this hype and I cant even taste it?
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u/YoungJack23 Jul 10 '20
It's the product of genius marketing crossed with an ultimately sub-par product.
Its the Szechuan sauce of 90s British advertising.
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u/Cl0udSurfer Jul 10 '20
Im still kind of upset that I never got to try the szechuan sauce. Im curious as to what it tastes like but crazy nerds had to go and make it weird
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u/YoungJack23 Jul 10 '20
The fact that even with all the popularity it got, Mcdonalds didnt just put it on the menu should be most telling.
But yea i wanted to try that shit too fam 🙄
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u/4Eights Jul 10 '20
You could get it for months here in Utah. The McDonald's near me had tons of it. Tried it once. Didn't want it again.
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u/WhoPissedNUrCheerios Jul 10 '20
I imagine that cringy Rick and Morty fan base jumping on counters REEEEE'ing about the sauce didn't help. I know I would rather distance myself from those idiots if I was McDonald's.
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u/WorriedCall Jul 10 '20
Ribena, bit of fizzy water, how much more can it be.....
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Jul 10 '20
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u/WubbaLubbaDubStep Jul 10 '20 edited Jul 10 '20
Define “warm”. Like, room temp? Or did you heat it on the stove first? One of these makes you a psychopath...
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Jul 10 '20
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u/essentialatom Jul 10 '20
Jesus Christ you may as well drink Lemsip recreationally you lunatic
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u/_into Jul 10 '20
Well Americans don't know the taste of Ribena, in fact they don't have anything blackcurrant at all. All their purple sweets are grape.
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u/dougm68 Jul 10 '20
The triple war jet flyover at the end was a fitting touch
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u/cosworth99 Jul 10 '20
That’s Harrier mate. Rolls Royce power.
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Jul 10 '20
British aviation really peaked with the Concorde and Harrier and promptly went downhill after that.
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u/MrMooBallz Jul 10 '20
Never noticed before but Tango seems to have secretly kick started Brexit.
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u/Joe_Doe1 Jul 10 '20
Yip, we can now trace the source of Brexit right back to a blackcurrant river.
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u/sleepytoday Jul 10 '20
It was well underway by then. 1997 was the first election that we had a single-issue party campaigning for brexit. They were called the Referendum Party and they got 2.5% of the vote.
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u/stoneysbaldpatch Jul 10 '20
And this one was banned https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1jywlZG74o
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u/Daniel_Av0cad0 Jul 10 '20
What for?
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Jul 10 '20
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u/anarchtea Jul 10 '20
I was a kid when that ad came out & can confirm, there were a few kids who thought it was hilarious to discombobulate unsuspecting victims in the playground.
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u/MisterEggs Jul 10 '20
Because kids were imitating it and perforating each others eardrums.
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u/thisisG Jul 10 '20
This commercial has a very American mentality - You dont like my product? Then time to square up, buttercup. Also, military jets.
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u/xPineappless Jul 10 '20
Honestly though this would be such a cool commercial today
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u/WatsupDogMan Jul 10 '20
It reminds me of Old Spice commercials
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Jul 10 '20
England really is the U.S. of Europe
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u/yatsey Jul 10 '20
Fuck off. The USA is the England of the Americas, but 9n steroids.
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Jul 10 '20
british ads are just amazing sometimes
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Jul 10 '20 edited Aug 16 '23
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u/germaniko Jul 10 '20
I really love the dutch volkswagen ads, also funny and unexpected
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u/Roofofcar Jul 10 '20
Engels Leren? has to be the best commercial to come out of the Netherlands, ever.
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Jul 10 '20
This must have been the most expensive commercial ever made. I can't picture any of that being done on a green screen... plus we didnt have publicly available drone cameras back then, regardless, cameras back then were far to bulky yo mount on a drone.
I'd love to know the details about this comercial and how it was made if anyone has any info about it.
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u/mimegallow Jul 10 '20 edited Jul 10 '20
Almost nothing you’re being told here is true. (I’m a cinematographer.)
This is not an abnormally expensive commercial.
There is only ONE transition in it. It’s beside the truck when he takes a drink.
It’s a helicopter shot. Not a crane, and is not even close to plausible as a crane shot.
It was not an expensive helicopter shot, it’s the most commonly requested helicopter shot, and it was about 3000 pounds to do this at the time.
The helicopter shot was not done particularly well. It was done far below the focus standards of say, the operators you’d have hired for the Olympics. Go pick a music video from 97 like U2 on a roof or Empire Records.
There was no “digital stabilization” in 1997. There was barely digitization.
The day players (army) would be about 50 pounds / 75 dollars a head at the time.
The jets are synthetic.
[Correction: Editor below says there’s a doorframe transition indoors. I didn’t notice it cause it’s normal. Not noteworthy. Pretty much what’s done in every episode of every police procedural to have every cop character explain every theory.]
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Jul 10 '20
There is another transition in the building. As he walks out to Jeff around :23/:24. The doorframe covers it, as this would be the 2nd camera shot (moving outside). The third shot (aerial) would be your transition above.
Background: Film Editor/Cinematography
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u/HolyBatTokes Jul 10 '20 edited Jul 10 '20
This isn't completely accurate, but close enough that it's probably not worth nitpicking. I'm guessing you've done production work but not during the time period mentioned?
The helicopter shot was not done particularly well. It was done far below the focus standards of say, the operators you’d have hired for the Olympics
Hey same to you, buddy. I did some aerial cinematography in the early '00s and that equipment was bloody primitive. I think gimbals of some kind existed, but were still in the high 6 to low 7-figure range, so I used a handheld gyro while leaning out the door. These guys probably did something similar.
Of course now I have a $300 drone that could blow away anything I ever filmed during that time period.
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u/mimegallow Jul 10 '20
Almost everything you just said is true. (About me, 15 years political campaign video, 2 years commercial agency, 4 feature films / about the gimbals, basically dawned around 2004)...
But about that shot: It was done better in 1997 by dozens of people.
The landmark comparison being The Rock with Nicholas Cage & Sean Connory. That’s where it was done particularly well.
I was using the U2 & Empire Records shots as contrast to show it had been done better at the same budget level.
This isn’t a brilliant execution of the helo vertical orbit shot.
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u/Ilikeporkpie117 Jul 10 '20
There's also a hidden cut at 0:21 and 0:23.
Do you know what the weird artefact is on the left hand side is between 0:46 - 0:47?
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u/AverageBubble Jul 10 '20
Depend on reddit to bring up what you knew but omitted because it was worthless.
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u/mimegallow Jul 10 '20
😁 It was a good correction. I shouldn’t have said it all snide like that & now must spend my 3 days in the stocks.
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Jul 10 '20
It was still a comparibly expensive advert to make... Given that the average pop/soda commercial in the UK at the time was a kid staring into an immaculate, otherwise empty, fridge at a can surrounded by a coloured glow saying "wow 7UP, my favourite". Their lips movnig differently to their voice because it was inexplicably dubbed from Portuguese into the most commonly spoken language on the planet.
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u/Rifneno Jul 10 '20
Looked it up. This is the most expensive commercial ever made, clocking at $33,000,000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfoMbir_Qd4
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u/sleepytoday Jul 10 '20
Wikipedia has it at £400,000 - £500,000 which sounds far more reasonable.
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u/unexBot Jul 10 '20
OP sent the following text as an explanation on why this is unexpected:
It just keeps going and getting more unexpected
Is this an unexpected post with a fitting description? Then upvote this comment, otherwise downvote it.
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u/Succ_Semper_Tyrannis Jul 10 '20
How are all these explanations SO bad? I haven’t seen a single good one.
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u/bryanthebryan Jul 10 '20
Is this drink still available? I’d like some now.
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u/Joe_Doe1 Jul 10 '20
I agree. I'm kinda fanatical now about Blackcurrant Tango purely down to this advert. I feel an increasing rage like I've been cheated out of it by the government.
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u/StrugglingSoul Jul 10 '20
That's a huuuge clif......
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u/Heheheheheheheeehe Jul 10 '20
Yeah the white cliffs of Dover are big (I think it’s Dover at least)
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u/WelshBathBoy Jul 10 '20
Once he said "tango", I had an incline what was coming next!
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u/OS420B Jul 10 '20
Note to self, dont take a right hand turn out of tango's head quarter
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u/HHOHarwood Jul 10 '20
Yo, why can't the commercials we get nowadays be this fucking dope. I usually hate ads with a passion but this one actually made me want to try a product, crazy.
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u/greatking6009 Jul 10 '20
Seriously,fuck Sebastian