Shake n' Vac
Shake 'n' Vac is a powdered carpet freshener. The powder is shaken onto the carpet before hoovering. It is currently marketed and sold in the United Kingdom by S. C. Johnson & Son. The product becoming well known due to its famous TV commericial during the 1970's and 80's. With the advert being voted as the most popular TV advert in Britain.[1]
The product, still available as of February 2008, is primarily remembered for its iconic Dancing Woman TV advert shown until 1989. There has been some controversy over when the advert was first aired. The 100 Greatest TV Adverts programme stated that the ad was first broadcast in 1979, but several other sources state that 1980 was the screen debut year.
The controversy may be due to a possible staggered launch of the product throughout the UK, which was common practice with new products at the time. Different ITV regions may have received the advert at different times; the advert was first transmitted in the Yorkshire Television region in 1980.
Several sites state that the product was first sold in 1979, but that advertising was delayed across the entire ITV Network until 1980 due to industrial action at ITV in 1979. Hence, the TV advertising launch of the product took place in 1980.
The advert featured Jenny Logan dancing around a typical British living room in high heels, shaking the powder onto the carpet and hoovering it up, while singing a musical jingle. The main lyric is "do the Shake 'n' Vac, and put the freshness back".
The jingle was in a 1950s rock and roll retro style. This style was very popular in the 1970s and 1980s in the UK.
In 2000, the advert polled 18th place in the Channel 4 The 100 Greatest TV Adverts programme [1]. Jenny Logan appeared in the programme and stated that filming the advert had been difficult, as she had been ill at the time.
As seen above, the claim that the advert was originally broadcast in 1979 has been disputed. Whilst there appears to be evidence on the Web that points to 1980, others believe that the ad first appeared somewhat later. According to the book Box of Delights (ISBN 0333518128), it first appeared in 1985, and this is backed up by the earliest print reference to Shake 'n' Vac being a 1982 newspaper advert. However, it is argued that Ms Logan's clothing and hairstyle and the decor of the room featured in the ad would appear to point towards the ad being filmed in 1979/1980.
Jenny Logan also appeared on This Morning in 2004 as a guest to talk about the well-remembered advert. In 2005, ITV named it one of their best ever commercials as part of their 50th birthday celebrations.
References
- ^ Matthew Moore. "Daily Telegraph, Shake n'Vac named most popular TV jingle". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved March 23rd 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessdaymonth=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)