CANADIAN REACTS | 80s British Sweets Adverts 

Does anyone else remember hedgehog flavoured crisps?? Yes, Alanna, they really did exist!

The best Kit Kat advert ever has to be "Alien Invasion" - "You can't sing, you can't play and you look awful... you'll go a long way"

The lady in the Walkers Crisps ad was Janice Long, one of the UK's longest -lasting BBC Radio DJs, and one of the most innovative, in terms of finding new talent (and genres). Very sadly she passed away just a few weeks ago.

Haha! Wow! So weird to see my compilation commentated on. Glad you enjoyed some of our old TV ad memories. 🙂👍

🙋🏻‍♂️ That smarties ad was quite a revolution. The computing power needed to make it was immense!

If you think the Cadburys Caramel ad was suggestive check out the old Cadburys Flake ads

Oh no! I think that women in the Walkers crisps ad, literally just past away last week. Janice Long I think?

Cadbury's Flake ads are legendary from the "how did they get away with that" standpoint. The Milk Tray ads were a James Bond parody of sorts and worth a look. Not a sweet, but the ads for the soft drink Tango were good too.

I was a kid in Britain in the 80s. And the 70s. "Only the crumbliest flakiest chocolate/Tastes like chocolate never tasted before." Nothing else comes close.

The crisps was Janice Long. Very famous radio personality and tv DJ . Passed away a few weeks ago.

Thanks Alanna, that was fun! Little bit of trivia - the sexy Caramel bunny's voice was Miriam Margolyes, better know these days as Professor Sprout from Harry Potter.

The Cadburys Caramel add is voiced by Myriam Margolyes, a very funny lady, find her out on videos with Graham Norton.

I was both alive and in the UK in the 80s. This is nostalgia at its finest!

I remember most of these. I can confirm that the little boy in the Breakaway commercial was definitely speaking in a Liverpool accent otherwise known as a scouse accent as I am originally from Liverpool myself. My personal favourite adverts growing up were the Brooke Bond tea ads with chimpanzees doing parodies of the James Bond films. They looked quite expensively produced and then there were the Cadbury's flake commercials which had...er, a bit of a reputation. A lot of stuff they did in British adds back in the day you could just not get away with these days. Lol.

The Walls Cornetto ad was so ubiquitous that, as you found, it's still sung today. It became a comedy trope on TV shows, and even mocked in a later TV commercial for beer

It's definitive. Cakes go hard when stale. Biscuits go soft. Ergo, Jaffa cakes are cakes. 😎

Not only was I alive in the 80s, my kids were born in the 80s. Thanks for a lovely trip down memory Lane…. love, 😉

The product was neither sweets nor snacks, but for adverts with a story it would be difficult to beat the Nescafe Gold Blend couple of Anthony Head and Sharon Maughan...

The lad in the Breakaway advert is a Scouser from Liverpool

A series of television commercials for Cornetto ice cream, broadcast regularly in Britain during the 1980s, used a jingle ("Just One Cornetto ...") set to the melody of "’O sole mio".

"I wasn't alive in the 80's." Thanks for rubbing it in, Alanna.

Alanna's reaction to the After Eights advert was priceless! 😂🇬🇧

I remember in a comic, there was a spoof version of the Cornetto song "Just one Cornetto, give it to me!" replied by someone else singing "Not bloody likely, they cost 90p!!!"

The After Eights advert reminded me of an ad featuring an even more decadent setting from the 1990s: Ferrero Rocher being distributed at an event hosted by a European Ambassador.

If you like adverts with a story, check out the Nescafé Gold Blend ones that ran from 1987 to 1993 with Anthony Stewart Head. I think there were 12 of them that all followed on from each other.

I don't know how many times I've heard the statement "the adverts are the best part of TV" sometimes that is so true!

The Corneto advert hasn’t been on TV for decades yet Alanna who wasn’t even born in the 80s has heard Brits singing it coz they remember it decades later. That proves what a memorable advert it was. Very nostalgic too.

Ahhhh - I miss adverts that actually tell you what they're advertising - rare these days. I like to play a game called "guess what this is an advert for" . Sometimes, even if I have seen one lots of times, I still haven't a clue.

When these adverts came out M&Ms did not exist, and we had "Peanut Treets" instead. They brought back Treets in the UK in 2009, but only for one week. They are still sold by Mars in Germany today, but in an orange coloured, rather than the canary yellow packaging that used to be used in the UK.

Hi Alanna,I believe that there was a legal wrangle over VAT.with Jaffa cake .it was declared a cake,because a biscuit goes soft when left ,but a Jaffa goes hard when stale,as does a cake.great video.Roly.🇬🇧.PS.the advertisements really made me feel old,but with resilience of mind over matter (that being me)not for long 😀

This was a surprise for me! I do not recall any of those adverts! Yet I was definitely there. Born in UK 1951, so in my 30's around that time! My brain must resembles a strawberry Aero bar now I have forgotten so much!

Only seems like yesterday when I was watching these on the box . Angel Delight was really a staple desert in the ‘70s when I was a youngster especially after your Findus Pancakes . God this is a pure nostalgia trip and I’m loving it , thank you 😊

Now that jaffa cake full moon half moon wasn't 80s Jaffa's original 'eclipse' campaign in 1999 was probably one of the more irritating - most notably the TV ad featuring the Eastern European infant school teacher explaining what an eclipse was using a Jaffa Cake (if you're old enough, all together now: “Full moon, half moon… total eclipse!”).26 Mar 2015

The kids accent in the 2nd one is from the Liverpool area.

3:55: the Toffee Crisp ad contains two British obsessions: chocolate and embarrassment. 4:55: there may have been furries within Cadbury’s PR department when the Caramel ad came out.🐇🐿

Yes the caramel is that colour because of that. The plain choc was always in the blue/purple type of colour.

As an American born in 1995, I find these advertisements fascinating!

Some of these ads are so nostalgic., I’d forgotten a lot of them so this really takes me back. Happy days!

I was around but very young in the 80's and recognize most of those so thanks for the trip down Memory Lane... and the Cadburys Caramel Bunny might have been my very first television crush... ;o) Also, though, the Jaffa Cakes ad is way later than the 80's, probably 2000's...

Prior to “your” Smarties ad, my memory goes back further 😉 as in ‘singing’ “Smartie people are happy people, they smile all the time because they’re feeling fine as it’s Smartie time…Smartie people make funny faces, clap their hands, they're Smartie fans you know the taste is grand, we're all living in Smartie land, ba doo doo n doo doo doooo, Smaarrartiieees.” And thank you ‘bows and exits stage left to wild applause…” 😳😂

Frank Muir Cadbury Fruit and Nut advert. Absolute classic and the tune is still stuck in my, and probably lots of other peoples head to this day. Soft mints advert was very different when it came out in the 80's or 90's too. Flake ads were the most sexually charged, followed by Cadburys Caramel ads.

My favourite adverts were, the James bond style character, diving off cliffs jumping out of helecopters etc.With the strap line " And all because the lady loves Milk Tray"

Damn. I'd forgotten about Black Magic even existed. Still miss Terry's Pyramint (they original pyramid version).

Remember them all (now I feel old)…Smarties where nicer & the tubes were cooler….back then. The breakaway accent is Liverpudlian. The Cadbury’s Caramel Bunny voice is none other than Miriam Margolyes. Fox’s also do Glacier Fruits, the mints are strong. Jaffa Cakes are Cakes, it’s in the title and the law says they are, as HMRC found out when they lost the case. Walkers Crisps woman is radio DJ Janice Long who died on Christmas Day just gone. Not seen Black Magic in ages, or Dairy Box & Terry’s All Gold…Milk Tray are still around…they were the main 4 boxes of chocolates.

Great vid . Love seeing old things like this ..Thank you so much for posting this ..Byeeeee. .

I was born in 1961, so remember those advertisements. Thank you, Alanna.

The Walkers Crisps ad featured DJ, broadcaster and first woman with her own daily radio show on Radio 1, Janice Long, who sadly died on Christmas day 2021.

Sadly for the first 6 or 7 years of my life sweets were rationed in the UK, but when the rationing ended my sister and myself gorged ourselves lol

I'm surprised they didn't include the Milk Tray adverts with the James Bond type character who secretly delivers boxes of chocolates to beautiful women!

You could do the long running Gold Blend coffee adverts with Anthony Head ( Giles in Buffy ) or the even longer running Bisto adverts.

The woman in the Walkers Crisp advert is Janice Long a well known and much respected radio DJ and TV personality who sadly passed away on Christmas day 2021.

Some absolute bangers there!! Watch 90s tango adverts. Especially the james corden ones they are ridiculous, funny and terrifying all at the same time!!

Ahh, the days when ads were worth watching! Moving on from food, the old Heineken lager (The water in Gibraltar!) and Hamlet cigars (photo booth) are worth a look if you fancy a giggle.

That Jaffa Cakes ad is waaay later than 80s, fwiw. like, late 90s f'sure. Fun fact about it - watch it again and notice the spooky-looking character that pops up at the back of the class, midway through. Supposedly, there was a scene with a Headmaster character that was cut... leaving only that random, quite unnerving scene, in the final edit 😂

Jaffa cakes are classed as cakes and I'm sure they went to court about it and won which resulted in saving a lot of money because they avoided biscuit tax 🤷🏻‍♂️ That was also a 90s advert I think

I remembered every single one. Thanks for reminding me I'm getting old, Alanna. Made my day, that has 😂

We were discussing Black Magic the other day and I can confirm that Sainsbury still sell them as well as Milk Tray another advert fave.

The woman in the Walkers Crisp ad is Janice Long, a radio DJ and presenter for many years. V sadly she died just a couple of weeks ago.

Wow I really miss the 80s such a good decade. this makes me miss it even more

Perhaps Black Magic is a fading brand, but as a Canadian kid from the 50's I can confirm they were the go to present you bought your mother for whatever occasion required gifts. That is, unless you bought her a model airplane kit and then volunteered to help her build it.

There is nothing finer than a peppermint aero and a double Scotch and breakaways used to be part of my packed lunch for school love em.

You have no idea how much joy has this video brought me! Especially when you say "naughty" in 16:50 - priceless! Cheers, lovely Alanna! XOXOXO

The guy in the Toffee Crisp advert is Paul Bown, famous from the sitcom 'Watching' which ran for 6 years on ITV in the late 80s/early 90s. He also appeared in Coronation Street as Roy Cropper's brother, and is from my neck of the woods, Stoke-on-Trent.

That was a nice trip down memory lane, thank you, I didn’t realise at the start how much I would remember and enjoy. Like yourself I don’t watch adverts anymore but I find them annoying now anyway. I hope you do this again sometime, the nineties probably had some memorable ads. I hope you have a great week.

🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️ now I feel old!! Remember all of these sweets and treats, and even a couple of the ads (especially the Cornetto one), great video as always. Off for a snack now…

I was a kid born in the U.K. in the 1980’s. Born in 1972. I feel so old watching these adverts.

Golden wonder were best crisps, followd by tudor. "A canny bag of tudor" as the ad said.

Wow, they brought back some memories - I can just about remember them all. Sad to see Janice Long on the Walker's crisps advert who only just died on Christmas day. Great 'food/sweets' video, you always make them so much fun. Thanks.

How could you not know a scouse accent? Probably the most recognisable English accent alongside Geordie and Cockney. Jaffa Cakes are, legally speaking, cakes as there was a famous court case where the tax authorities tried to levy VAT on them on the basis they were chocolate biscuits. McVities won, and one of the deciding factors was, that cakes go stale and dry when exposed to the air for a long time and biscuits go soggy. The voice over on that advertisement was by Donald Sinden, a well known TV actor but one who was also a stalwart of the Royal Shakespeare Company. The One Cornetto advertisement featured Elisabeth Sladen, who played Sarah Jane Smith one of the Doctor's best loved companions in Dr. Who. Later in life, she starred in a couple of spin-off series including the Sarah Jane Adventures. The actor operating the ATM in the Toffee Crisp advert looks like John Gordon Sinclair who is best known for a Bill Forsyth film called Gregory's Girl (whilst he's fairly hapless, and loses the girl he dreams of, in my view he did much better by ending up with Clare Grogan). The voice over on that ad is by the jazz musician George Melly. Also, if you think the Cadbury's Caramel advertisement is sexual, then try finding a Cadbury's Flake advertisement of the era. That will blow your mind (unfortunate phrase) and something so suggestive would surely not be acceptable now. nb. one interesting point is that almost all the great British confectionery companies were founded by Quakers. That includes Terrys, Rowntree's, Cadbury and Frys. Sadly almost the entire UK confectionery industry is in foreign hands, and Nestle have committed historical vandalism by eliminating the famous name of Rowntree's. The reason the Quakers got into the business is because they had a moral objection to the damage that alcohol was seen to be doing to the working classes, and it was perceived that confectionery was a harmless alternative. Well, that's before you start taking into account the damage it causes through diabetes, but they were not to know when these companies were founded in the 19th century.

I love Black Magic chocolates. I ask for a box every Christmas 😂. Not long just finished this years box. Although, it definitely didn’t have as many crammed in it as that adverts box did! I love the shape of the old chocolate boxes. Also that Aero bar. That bought back some memories of it being that shape.. great video Alanna, took me down memory Lane . Lovely.

Note also that a lot of these are made by Rowntree Mackintosh before they got bought out by Nestle etc

When you get round to trying an Angel Delight go for the strawberry flavour... And buy a Cadbury's Flake, smash it up in the wrapper & then pour it ontop.

The two biggest 80’s Chocolate adverts are missing; Milk Tray (All because the Lady Loves Milk Tray)…. And if you thought the Cadbury’s Caramel Bunny was sexually; watch some of the Cadbury’s Flake adverts from the 80’s…..WOW Both are still regarded as some of the best adverts ever….watch & react to them.

Please react to all the flake adverts from 60’s- 80’s some are very suggestive. They are so well filmed and produced

I'm was a child of the 80s and I remember all of these adverts. My favourite is the KitKat one, really loved this video thanks for the memories it all seems like yesterday. Ps Black Magic doesn't exist anymore.😁

The Walkers crisps ads I don't think ever took off until a certain footballer took over the role. There is an excellent Tudor crisps advert from Gateshead featuring a tower block that's now been destroyed. Yes, I visited Venice and made sure to have a cornetto. Not on a gondola though because there are thieves about!

The old Carlsberg advertisements were brilliant you should check them out 🍻

Growing up as a kid in the 80's in the UK I can't tell you how many sweet ads became our catchphrases. I can't tell you how many times we would say "It's Wicked" with the special Northern inflection on the "ick".

Some of these have definitely had more recent remakes (like the Jaffa Cakes and Cornetto ones), because I remember them and I wasn't born yet in the 80s.

Ah, these ad's brought back a lot of happy memories for me Alanna. The days when a Mars a day helped you work rest and play, a finger of Fudge was just enough to give your kids a treat and it was full of peppery goodness plus the fact a Milky Way was a sweet you could eat between meals without ruining your appetite, good times. Thanks for a great video this week. I shall finish by saying the Milky Bars are on me. ☺☺☺

It was clearly a more innocent age where you could have a scouse kid with a tooth missing advertising chocolate and the PR department didn't have to defend the company on social media for weeks afterwards moaning that sugar is the devil's seed! Great video kid - keep 'em coming!

I remember all of these adverts.Cadbury’s Caramel changed packaging a number of years ago. Quality Streeets used to be sold in metal tins as did Cadbury’s Roses, until they changed to plastic packaging. Black Magic is still being sold in supermarkets.

Quality Street were pretty good when this was made as they were made by Rowntree Macintosh. When they got taken over by Nestle things went down hill. Also the plastic tubs you get now for £3.99 are not the proper tins. The proper ones like in this are nearly £9 and even then may be a bit smaller.

Actually you did try Angel Delight back in your November 2018 video "Immigrant in the UK tries British pudding". I think I remember commenting on that video that Angel Delight works best if you serve it with some fruit then put it back in the fridge for a bit to thicken after making it.

Hello Alanna. These adverts take me back a bit! Loved the reactions to so many of these - you seemed a little... taken aback by the Caramel bunny ad. That's nothing to the sheer suggestive, sensual Cadbury Flake ads of that era. (If I start describing them, my glasses will steam up...🤭😳. WOW...."'Shouldn't be allowed...") There were some really creative ads back then, particularly Weetabix (breakfast cereals). "The Lone Ranger", "Robin Hood", "The Cub Scouts" "English Civil War" & "Trojan Horse" were true works of art. Must've been hugely expensive to produce but mini-masterpieces. Love the videos, keep on keepin' on, stay safe & have fun . From Yorkshire...

Born in 77 so i remember all these thanks for a trip to my chilhood and yes the caramel bunny is strange! My mom used to give me a breakaway after school with my tea bless her!

I lived in London as a child in the 60s and 7Os and used to visit my grandparents in Wales. There were always new sweets or flavours in Wales we didnt get in London for months later ie space dust and assorted flavour toffos

Really enjoyed the video! Would love to see more reacting to older adverts. They are really interesting to see the cultural change.

That was great fun Alanna - I recognise and have eaten large amounts of them all (I worked weekends and school hols in a sweet shop in the early 80's). Cadbury's Caramel wrappers were always mainly yellow, Fox's mints are still going strong and I have a bag in the house at the moment, Cornetto's were huge in popularity and much bigger in size back then, at the time Quality Street's big rival were Cadbury's Roses and the country seemed pretty evenly split in terms of favourites - always Roses for me! Finally, the lady doing the Walker's Crisps advert was Radio 1 DJ Janice Long (she sadly passed away recently). A great trip down memory lane, thank you!

The kid's accent was Scouse - Merseyside. A great catch phrase I recall for McVitie's Digestive biscuits was, "A drink's too wet without one!"

The Breakaway boy was Scouse (Liverpool)

I love how varied your videos are! It makes every video really interesting to watch! And your editing is really good too! Your videos feel really well done but also very chill! I really like them! Hope your video does well! Your videos are such a nice part of my week!

Great great video! With 2 Canadian references - the beaver in Cadbury's Caramel and the polar bear in Foxes glacier mints. I remember them all. Those mints really did look like mini ice cubes. Was the woman in the Cornetto ad a young Elizabeth Hurley? She would have been about 20 at the time. By the way last week a guy was killed in the Cadbury's warehouse when a palette of white chocolate fell on him - sadly whenever he shouted "The Milky bars are on me" everybody cheered. I'll get my coat.

The lady in the Bassets All sorts ad is Joanne Whalley Kilmer, Val Kilmers wife, she was in Willow 😁

The séance toffee crisp ad was the best.. "are you there Sidney?".. and the the music as the toffee crisp floats down to the table 😆

Hi, Alanna, I really enjoyed that, you were brilliant. I'm not certain some of those are still available. The accent i think was Liverpool. That was fun and really good.

Quality Street are bad now, thanks to Nestle...but they used to be nice when it was owned and made by Rowntree Mackintosh (and not just using the name). Best thing about Breakaways (and it sometimes happened with Kit Kats) was that sometimes you got one that was just chocolate with no biscuit...that was a result! The Walker's crisp ad was Janice Long...regular Top of the Pops presenter and Radio 1 DJ... Breakaway kid had a scouse accent (Liverpool). Toffee Crisp - again, ruined by Nestle. Glacier Mints - awful, never did like those, they always outstayed their welcome...Nuttall's Mintoes were far better. Black Magic - can still get those...they're dark chocolate (and Nestle 👎) Cornetto song...'O sole mio' obviously loads of classical opera types have sung it...but Elvis had a big hit with a kind of a version of it using the melody but with different lyrics etc...It's Now or Never I always liked the Cadbury's Fruit and Nut adverts with Frank Muir...

omg its like i forgot these adverts existed but seeing them again like a flash back there i am infront of the tv as a kid happier times "smarties truly did have the answer" they always did!!!

This took me back YEARS! Thanks, Alanna. 🤗

Please try if you can find it 'Butterscotch Angel Delight' it just devine! also I like these reaction videos you do you're always smiling and that's good! lol