Egg Marketing Board

The Egg Marketing Board was an agricultural marketing organization set up by the British government in December 1956 to stabilise the market for eggs due to a widespread collapse in sales. The Board purchased all the eggs produced in the UK, graded them to a national standard, and then marketed them to shops. Each eggshell was stamped with a small "lion" logo as a mark of quality that would be seen by the customer. Egg producers were paid according to the quality of their eggs, less a deduction based on the number of eggs sent to packhouses for administration and advertising.[1]

Slogans used by the board included "Go to work on an egg", introduced in 1957 in a £12 million advertising campaign and turned into a series of television advertisements starring Tony Hancock and also featuring Patricia Hayes and Pat Coombs that ran for six years from 1965 to 1971. Other slogans included "Happiness is egg-shaped",[2] "Eggs are cheap", "Eggs are easy" and "Eggs are full of protein".[3][4][5]

The Board closed down in 1971 and the lion mark was dropped. The lion mark was however revived in 1998 by the British Egg Information Service.[1][6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "On this day, 21 June 1968: Egg board 'should be scrapped'", BBC News. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  2. ↑ Egg Marketing Board: Hancock on Eggs, British Film Institute database.
  3. ↑ "‘Go to work on an egg’ ad banned", TimesOnline, 20 June 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2007.
  4. ↑ "Watchdog goes to work on egg advert", Telegraph.co.uk, 21 June 2007. retrieved 22 June 2007.
  5. ↑ "Do not go to work on an egg", Guardian Unlimited, 20 June 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  6. ↑ Lion Quality Mark, British Egg Information Service. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  7. ↑ Davison, Phil (2011-12-30). "Len Fulford: Director behind the 'Go to work on an egg' and Guinness 'toucan' commercials". The Independent. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
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