TalkTalk 'model Britain' by CHI & Partners. Every now and then an advert comes along that, whilst maybe not breathtaking or earth shattering in its take on trying to sell us goods, is just darn sweet. And this advert is a case in point. So here's a little credit due to this ad's miniature world. Set on a wintry British eve in a model village which comes to life, it follows the journeys home of average (miniature) Britons who then curl up with their loved ones by the cosy glow of the tv. With the addition of the decidedly so uncool it's cool soundtrack of John Denver's Annie's song, this advert has the cosy factor like a cup of hot chocolate or a buttery piece of toast. I’ve always loved model villages, dollhouses and all things teeny tiny so it’s no surprise that this ad struck a chord with me, however, I think this ad has fairly universal appeal. Whilst on the teeny weeny front I was quite thrilled to discover this ad was filmed at Bekonscot model Village – a favourite childhood (and adulthood, if I’m being honest) destination.
I even thought that the mixed race couple was rather sweet and almost progressive in an age when despite its normality it’s still fairly rare to see a mixed race couple on Tv. Though this clearly still doesn’t please everyone, as one online commentator swiped that no doubt the mixed race coupling of the ad was “a white woman’s ideal” and bemoaned the absence of a black female. Well, in a brief snapshot they've done quite well to represent different cultures and Britons on the whole here. But I guess you can’t please everyone! Where's the gay couple? ( Out on the town? They only stay in for the Great British Bake Off ) The lesbians? (Out at an antenatal class?) The eastern european immigrants? (Out at the second of their 3 jobs?) What else can we have a dig about here? Well, I suppose it’s pretty middle-classed in its representation of “model” Britain. Sure, the black guy looks like he lives in potentially a council tower block, there’s a street sweeper and a fisherman, but on the whole it’s a very middle-class Britain represented. I guess it would lose the cosy factor by showing desolate local high streets with a multitude of closed down independent shops punctuated by thriving bookies, their desperate clientele puffing on fags outside, whilst their debt broken families at home stare at the empty space where the tv once was, menacing looking sink estates, or park benches full of drunk homeless Eastern Europeans. Then again, that rather sounds like a model village I'd like to go and see!
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