Simplyeighties.com

By Mark Nobes and Hannah Johnson

While the majority of mainstream chocolate bars that we loved back in the 80s are still being produced today, there are some that remain firmly stuck in the 80s. 54321 was one such bar, which was discontinued in 1989. It was made by Crawford's (who also made Bandit), at their Binn's Road factory in Liverpool. The brand was sold to United Biscuits in 1960.

The advert from 1982 (below) features one of the most catchy and memorable tunes of the decade, and when you play the ad, I guarantee you will instantly remember the song. It was performed by Manfred Mann and reached No.5 in the UK singles chart during 1964. But it will remain an 80s song for those of us who grew-up in the 1980s! It was also the theme tune for the 60s pop music show Ready Steady Go, which I'm too young to remember.

Do you recognise the astronaut in the ad? Look again, it's none other than Rik Mayall, who, of course, starred as Rick in the anarchic BBC comedy The Young Ones in the same year.

Do you remember all of the lyrics, though? Let me remind you of them;

"Chocolate flavour coating comes first in 54321,

Then crunchin' through light, crispy rice, 54321

Chew, chew, chew a caramel top for you, 54321

a-ha, wafer and fondant, too, 54321" (repeated three times).

As the lyrics reveal, it consisted of five different parts; wafer, crispy rice, caramel, fondant and milk chocolate. I used to adore them, but it seems that everything I adore (including Spira and Banjo) gets discontinued for one reason or another! 

The Manfred Mann song was also used in a 1985 advert which features different imagery.

By the way, does anyone else think that the "4" on the wrapper below looks like a "9"? Well, you'll notice on the first image featuring a pack of 5 bars, that they resolved this issue by using a slightly different font.