70S AND 80S TV ADS FOR CHOCOLATE BARS

By Markl Nobes

The video features a selection of old British TV ads for chocolate bars from the 70s and 80s - see how many you can remember! Included are Terry's Chocolate Orange (which is still going strong!), and Terry's Pyramint, which is no longer being made, sadly.

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Topic chocolate bar
Ooh, I could just bite a chunk off that!

Topic 80s TV Advert

I used to adore the taste of Topic chocolate bars. Was there a hazelnut in every bite? Well, as kids we used to go out of our way to try and find a section of the bar without a hazelnut in!

Topic is still being made by Mars and also contains nougat and caramel - amongst other things - and is similar to a Snickers. Of course, Snickers was called Marathon back in the eighties. Unfortunately, the 80s ad for Topic has been taken off Youtube, but I've replaced it with the one from 1976.

Cadburys Fudge Bar

Cadbury's Fudge

Just like today's "Go Compare!" TV Ad, there were some very irritating adverts around back in the eighties. Take this one for example. "A finger of fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat" has to be one of the most annoying songs they could have chosen for a TV ad!

By the way, this is also a good opportunity to have a look back at some of the cars we were driving back then, or, at least, our parents were driving.

Yorkie chocolate bar
Original Yorkie bars had six chunks, but this recent one has just five!

Yorkie Chocolate Bar

The clip in the playlist features the best-known British TV advert for Rowntree's Yorkie chocolate bar, dating from around 1976. The ads certainly helped to popularise Yorkie, although Dairy Milk would eventually win out as Britain's number one bar. 

My Dad was a truck driver during the 70s and 80s, although he never ate a Yorkie bar because he was diabetic, and so he was certainly not your stereotypical truck driver!

Rowntree's Peanut Yorkie Bar

 

Old Yorkie Chocolate Bar Wrapper

Aero Chocolate - UK TV Advert (1979)

We're getting closer to the eighties now with this advert from 1979. Actually, I can't remember if this Aero advert was still running into the early 80s, but I hope some of you will remember this one, at least. This chocolate bar is still going strong, of course.

Plain and Milk Aero chocolate bar wrapper from 1972
I really can't remember the Plain & Milk Aero bars. This wrapper is from 1972, and as plain chocolate has more of an adult taste, I doubt that I would ever have tried this - I was way too young!
An original bar of Fry's Turkish Delight

 Fry's Turkish Delight

This ad was from 1984. Fry's Turkish Delight is a chocolate bar currently made by Cadbury in the UK, but it was originally produced by J.S. Fry & Sons and launchd in 1914. Not everyone is fond of this advert as, apparently, there is no desert in Turkey and the people aren't Arabs and don't wear turbans!

 

Yes, it's a T E X A N bar!!!!

 Texan Chocolate Bar

I was so delighted to have found this video for Texan on Youtube because I'd almost forgotten about this chocolate bar. I particularly remember my jaw aching after chewing on this for what seemed like age!  Hmm, not sure whether I liked this one or not?
70s Chocolate - Milky Way Bar

 Milky Way Ads from 1970's and 1989

"The red car and the blue car had a race". Yes, the good old Milky Way advert from 1989 re-appeared on our screens again during 2009 to celebrate 20 years, and I'm pretty sure saw it again in early 2012.

Some of the 70s TV ads used to use the slogan "At work, rest and play", which was dropped to be used only in the Mars TV adverts "A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play". 
54321 chocolate bar

 54321 Chocolate Bar

Remember this one? I really had forgotten about 54321, and although I remember the ad,  I really can't remember what it tasted like!
Cadbury's Caramel - bunny rabbit from 80s TV ad
Cadbury's Caramel

How can anyone forget the iconic Cadbury's Caramel Advert from the 80s? It featured the rabbit with a sexy voice, and was very disturbing if you ask me - it was cetainly the first time I found a rabbit attractive!

With sexy rabbits and freaky-looking talking eggs (in the kinder Surprise ads) I sometimes wondered whether these confectionary companies were trying to sell us chocolate or simply give us nightmares?

Trio Chocolate Bar
Trio!

I haven't been able to find much info about these little chocolate bars, but forums suggest that the they are still available to buy, and someone mentioned they bought one in Waitrose. Anyway, I certainly remember the eighties TV ad with that annoying, loud-mouthed cartoon character shouting out "Trio!"

Mintola green wrapper from the 1980s
Mackintosh's Mintola Mint Creams - Chocolate Peppermint
Mintola Mint Creams

Now, these chocolate peppermint creams by Mackintosh's were absolutely gorgeous! In 1995 they were renamed Mint Munchies and in 2006 they were renamed again and they're now called After Eight Bitesize.
However, I'm not sure if the recipe changed or whether they contained After Eight fondant before the name change? I just wish they would stop trying to confuse us all!
P-P-Pick Up A Penguin

The TV advert in the playlist for the Penguin chocolate bar is from 1974. I often had one of these in my lunchbox to accompany my cheese spread sandwiches. Before Maggie Thatcher and the budget-slashing Tories came on the scene we also used to get a free mini bottle of milk, too!

Rowntree's Cabana - Retro Chocolate Bar
Rowntree's Cabana

Cabana's were absolutely delicious and included coconut, cherries and smooth caramel covered in a thick layer of milk chocolate - definitely on my top five list of favourite chocolate bars from the 80s.
I suppose Cabana could be best described as an exotic version of the Bounty bar, although Bounty is still around today, of course.

Why did they stopped making these after less than four years in production? Well, the answer isn't clear, although when it first came onto the market in 1980, Bounty had already been on the market for around three decades. Trying to attract customers who were already eating a well-established chocolate bar with a coconut-based flavour was never going to be an easy task.

The cheap-looking TV ad can't have helped matters, and it was, quite obviously, created in a studio using cardboard plants and flowers. I suppose it would have been far too costly to travel to a real tropical jungle, but some more exotic scenery would have been more attractive, nonetheless.
Fry's Plain Sandwich wrapper - 60s/70s chocolate bar
Fry's Milk Sandwich - old chocolate bar wrapper
Fry's Plain and Milk Sandwich Bars

I remember seeing these in vending machines back in the 70s, and my Mum always bought a plain one for herself and a milk one for me whenever we spotted them. There is no advert clip for these as I couldn't find one, but I added an ad featuring Twiggy promoting Fry's Chocolate Cream which I also liked, although, as with many chocolates with fondant centre's, it's not the type of snack for demolishing in one go.

What I find odd is that the red wrapper is for milk and the blue wrapper is for plain chocolate, as it is usually the other way on for most British confectionary. Bounty is just one example.
Cadbury's Bar Six wrapper from the 80s
Cadbury's produced a similar product to the Sandwich called Bar Six. This wrapper is from the 1980s.
Cadbury's Picnic - choclate bar wrapper from the 1970s
Cadbury's Picnic

Sadly, I couldn't find a British TV ad for Picnic, but I really want to include one of my favourites on this page. This bar featured a delicious combination of peanuts, raisins, toffee and wafer, and I would sometimes find one of these in my school lunchbox back in the day.

The wrapper featured here is from the 1970s, although Picnic was actually launched in 1958. It can still be bought today, although, as with many chocolate bars these days, it weighs less than it did when I was a lad. The weight was reduced from 50 grams to 48.4 grams in 2009.

Nestle's Milky Bar - 70s wrapper
Nestle's Milky Bar

Who remembers the milky bar kid shouting out "The milky bar's are on me!" in those old TV ads? There are two ads featured in the playlist. My favourite is the western style one with it's catchy cowboy tune. The other has a space theme.  I liked the fact that the lead character was a skinny, spectacle-wearing young boy who was probably the most-likely to be bullied at school. He first appeared on TV in 1961 and has, obviously, been played by many different actors since then. Milky Bar's are still going strong, although my teeth would no longer be able to cope with the sweetness of white chocolate! 

Cadbury's Fruit & Nut 1970s

"Everyone's a Fruit & Nutcase"

Shown above is a Cadbury's Fruit & Nut 1970s wrapper. This chocolate bar launched in 1926 and was renamed Dairy Milk Fruit & Nut in 2003. In the 70s, an ad campaign was launched featuring Frank Muir singing "everyone's a Fruit & Nut case" to Tchaikovsky's Dance des Mirlitons

70s chocolate bars by Cadbury's
70s chocolate bars by Cadbury's

I thought I'd end the page with this photo of vintage chocolate bars from the 1970s. I didn't even realise that Cadbury's produced a plain flake, but I certainly remember the rest of them and the Milk Tray bar was a particular favourite of mine. Check out those prices!


More 70s and 80s Wrappers

Fry's Peppermint Cream 1980s wrapper

Fry's Peppermint Cream 1980s wrapper 

McVitie's United bar

McVitie's United Bar from the 80s 

Three Cadbury's Monster Bar wrappers

This Cadbury's Monster Bar Dairy Milk Chocolate wrapper is from the 70s. 12 different wrappers were printed in two series of six. The monsters above come from the first series and include The Green Grokrumple, The Very Big Brontosaurus and The Dinosaur who had Dreams. I loved the illustrations on these which were quite imaginative and very appealing to kids. Hopefully, I may be able to find photos of all 12 wrappers, eventually.

Galaxy Noddy milk chocolate bar 1970s

Galaxy Noddy full cream milk chocolate bar. There were at least a couple of wrapper designs around in the 1970s, although I have only managed to discover this one, so far. I believe there was also a pink wrapper featuring Mr. Plod the policeman.

Mars Peanut Treets family pack 1970s

Mars Peanut Treets Family Pack 1970s 

Terry's Milk Chocolate Bar 1970s

Terry's Milk Chocolate bar from when we used to carry around halfpenny's. 

Cadbury's Truffle bar wrapper from the 1980s

1980s Cadbury's Truffle with orange liqueur flavour 

Cadbury's Whole Nut wrapper 1980s

Cadbury's Whole Nut 80s wrapper

1970s Galaxy chocolate bar wrapper

1970s Galaxy wrapper - 1/2 a pound of full cream chocolate!

Galaxy chocolate bar wrapper 1980s

1980s Galaxy with it's motto "Gives you a share of country goodness".

Jacob's Wafer Club chocolate bar wrapper 1980s

Jacob's Wafer Club 1980s wrapper

Jacob's Fruit Club biscuit wrapper from the 80s

Jacob's Fruit Club 1980s wrapper 

Jacob's Milk Club Biscuit 1980s

Jacob's Milk Club 1980s wrapper

Jacob's Plain Club Biscuit 1980s wrapper

Jacob's Plain Club biscuit 80s wrapper

Cadbury;s Crunchie wrapper 80s

Cadbury's Crunchie wrapper from the 80s