Suddenly, with a tear in my eye, I'm a nine year old boy again, dancing around my living room and each time this came on it just ratcheted up the growing excitement one more notch.
Heh heh ... By 1985 my brother and I would ask to open our blank VHS tapes early so we could record the Christmas films off the telly, which were always TV premiers (four years after they'd come out in the cinema). The winters were colder and it used to actually snow, blankets not duvets, family life was celebrated and you were allowed to be a kid. A great time!
It was 37 years ago and I still remember this like it was yesterday. I saw the full advert at school. The teacher wheeled the giant TV on its 9 foot stand into the hall and disappeared to get something, leaving the TV on itv, ready for our afternoon helping of words and pictures, and this came on. Everybody danced around the hall to the music and it proper felt like Christmas was on its way.
Hahaha!! Words and Pictures!!! I’d forgotten about that! I can now remember being slightly scared of the presenter - but also liking him as well. I think it was Henry Wolf?
Oh the excitement this advert brought me as a seven year old in anticipation of Christmas. The ABBA-sounding, Super Trouper-esque sound of the song just filled me with such joy and great memories with Mum and Dad.
Best Christmas advert ever, hands down. I remember watching this as a lad of 12. it really got you into the Christmas spirit. This is the long version too! It doesn't get any better.
As I was doing my tea and toast this morning I started humming this tune. Took 2 tries to find it. This is the first time I've heard it in 40 years. Thanks internet and the Meakers.
No mobile phones, no internet, a choice of 3 TV channels, closedown at 11pm, long hot summers and proper cold winters, Raleigh Chopper Bikes, Halfpenny chews.....happy days!
@@Mark-od3hs The imminent outbreak of a nuclear war, football hooliganism, high unemployment, random IRA bombings, people dying of AIDS.... much happier times.
Why am I watching a Woolworths Christmas advert in July ? Have to say I loved the Woolies advert and I still sing it to myself every year at Christmas time.
Anita harris was and still is beautiful gorgeous and loved woolworths miss it , wish it was still going spent more time in woolworths than any other shop back in the day definitely missed would love to see it back
This back then filled your stomach with a warmth as a kid u knew it was Christmas & everybody was happy with excitement & where has these times went as these were magical times when all your loved ones were still with us & both my parents are gone now. But i watch this with a warmth as they were around getting ready to make our Christmas a special one. Nothing beats this compared to now.
Would you though? No internet, no mobiles, misogyny, homophobia, police brutality. An adult today would find it very difficult to go back to being an adult in 1981
Woolworths always delivered, especially at Christmas; the eye-popping-size tins of 'Quality Street' and count-the-celebrities Christmas adverts were a joy, greatly missed.
Fairly brings tears to these aging eyes. I was one of those kids who would dance like a madman to this when it came on. Still know all the words too. This WAS Christmas to younger me and takes me back to simpler times. Heavily 'inspired' by Super Trouper onbviously.
Wow! look at the size of the quality street tin!! I loved when my mummy went christmas shopping always came back from Woolies with an advent calendar for me, The Christmas Radio times and a packet of good sweets like Munchies or Mintolas and i always tried to sneek a peek in the big bags of stuff she was carrying and she would say not until Christmas day.
Thank you !! I LOVED THIS as an 11 year old & have sung it throughout my lifetime. Hearing it again ( & still remembering all the words @ 52 years of age) & seeing all the stuff I remember Woolworths selling ( including the pick 'n' mix) has put a massive smile on my face. The prices though !!! 😮 So happy that you've shared this , Gracias 💛
I remember this advert very well all these years on - more so as the Wimbledon branch of Woolworths suffered a major fire in the spring of 1981 leading to the tragic death of a probationary London Fire Brigade firefighter named Tony Marshall who was only 21 at the time.
Just before last Christmas up here in Workington, we had a very successful "Sound & Light" show in Curwen Park which included the iconic Workington Hall being lit up in various colours accompanied by the sound of Festive carols & pop songs by school choirs AND nostalgic adverts - of which several from here were featured including this one Woolworths, which nstantly took me back - I remembered this 1st time round as an 8 year old back in 1981 & when I heard it that night I'm not ashamed to admit that a tear or three flowed from my eyes.
This advert brings me far too much joy. I especially like the enthusiasm with which they present a selection of items scavenged from landfill sites across the UK. It's a hypnotic affair and one which I'm delighted to have stumbled across.. Thanks for uploading:))
Viewing figures of TV stations have gone way down because there's far more choice these days and more far more people stream TV on Netflix etc. This Woolworths advert was made when there were only 3 TV stations, only one of which did adverts (ITV), and some TV shows got up to 20 million viewers. That just doesn't exist now, so there's no point in spending so much on TV adverts.
I can remember this advertisement from 1981. I was 8 and loved Christmas AND Woolworth's. As an 'aside' Frank Winfield Woolworth and I share the same birthday. April 13th. 👍👍👍
No idea why I thought about this ad today- February 2021. I remembered the theme tune out walking the dog - and here it is. I can remember it was probably the longest TV ad at the time.
I love this. They don't make adverts this good any more! This Christmas advert really DOES have the feel of Christmas and it's straight to the point throughout; no silly computer animations or silly characters.
i always liked this ad. makes you smile, when you see all theold tech of the 80's . the song was so catchy, its a wonder it didden't get played on "top of the pops"!
I loved how Woolworths bought the whole ad break in order to show their epic ads. It's what's missing from todays Christmas ads - now it's all food and family, I miss the old 'here's the item and how much it costs' method Woolies did so well. R.I.P.
Viewing figures of all TV stations are much lower these days (more people streaming Netflix etc.) so it doesn't make sense to spend so much on TV advertising now
Best ever advert. Shopping at Woolies at Christmas brings back memories and working at Wooolworths Twickenham 333 was magic at this time of the year. When the decorations come out each year so does this tune. I do miss Woolies.
After my local Woolworths closed its doors it laid empty for 3 years and was then replaced by Peacocks and then last year Peacocks closed down and when the sign was removed the original Woolworths sign appeared and brought back thousands of memories
I remember when Woolies went bust, I couldn't believe it. Sure, they were not the first major UK retailer to go down the toilet, but I never thought it would happen to them, I mean they had been around for almost 100 years (and not being 100- all my life). Once that happened I though the high street has had it now. And it had!
@TheRenaissanceman65 They were to blame for their own demise. I remember seeing Back to the Future boxset advertised on sale at Woolies in the paper for £9.99. But when i went to THREE of their stores none of them had it. False advertising! So I ordered it from Black Star (Remember them?) BTW, those shops were empty. Management should've foreseen the rise of the internet.
@TheRenaissanceman65 Selling everything can work tho. Look at Lidl; They sell clothes, food, even electric drills! Same goes for Tesco. They made it work, but Woolworths didn't.
@TheRenaissanceman65 It was all they had because they didn't adapt to change. They could've started selling tinned foods, then moved on to instal fridges in their shops and sold milk / sarnies etc. like Poundland did. But they were short sighted. Boots the Chemist is another disaster on the horizon...
@TheRenaissanceman65 :-0 "Drug Runner" means something different in most cities. Anyways, Boots have major competition from Supadrug which have lower prices, and has invested in their stores which look bright a modern in comparison, as this will attract the younger shoppers. They also need to be aware of the companies that can deliver prescriptions for free...
I don't think I saw this advert. Then again though, I didn't watch TV properly until the 1990s. Still brings back memories though of a decade that I see as, in a way, innocent. I suppose everyone will see their teenage decade before 2000 as maybe innocent.
All the singers on this (I was one) loved the long versions. We got Equity vocal repeat royalties each time it was shown, and it used to pretty much pay for Xmas :)
Watched Don Estelle film his bit in the Luton Arndale Centre on my works lunch break - we could watch but we had to all be quiet when the director called "Action!"
Better than modern Christmas ads. They are far too arty and pretentious. I love that is appear to have been devised in an afternoon after a boozy lunch. Bung some Chinese women and Russian dancers in for no apparent reason!
That woolworth Max Bygraves Christmas Album 🤣When I was a tiny kid my dad used to make me laugh screwing his face up every time I'd point to the max Bygraves Christmas album. Sometimes I'd secretly put it in the shopping trolley and run away ha ha.
How deep are those Quality Street tins ;) It amazes me that in 2022 we are buying much the same things as back in 1981... Vinyl, tapes, smellies, hair dryers etc. Bring back #Woolworths
The problem is a lot more people are buying the thing you mentioned online. Part of Woolworths problem was they became too expensive and didn't develop an online presence, along with poor upper management.
Amazes me really that this did not kill business off . Got to be the most cheesy advert out this , especially that song . Wouldn't have minded a cracking christmas with Anita Harris mind .
Have a crappy Christmas at Woolworth's A crapper of a Christmas shopping spree Woolworth's prices many of them crap now Christmas Woolworth's is the place to pee
Brilliant commercial. So much nostalgia. 1981 is my birth year so that's what makes it even more special to me and other people born in 1981 and others from around this special period in time. Gone but never forgotten. 1980s forever
Prices are so strange, Xmas are cheaper than they were in 1981, Quality street is cheaper (but smaller) a carriage clock costs £15 back then, a music system back then was £150, can get ones now much much cheaper
I agree, but I also remember when family and friends bought a music system back then they kept it for several years, now a lot of electronic products are just thrown away after a year or two, thinking it's cheaper to get a new one.
I received a few of those. I remember I would either get a £5 gift voucher or £5 cash. At the risk of sounding like a selfish child I always hoped it would be the voucher so I could get a new toy as if it was cash my dad would take the cash off me and put it into a savings account he'd set up for me saying I already had enough toys lol, good times lol.
