Smash (instant mashed potato)

Smash
Product type Instant mashed potato
Owner Premier Foods
Country U.K.
Introduced 1960s
Markets U.K.
Previous owners Cadbury
Tagline "For Mash Get Smash"

Smash is a brand of Instant mashed potatoes in the United Kingdom.

It was launched in the UK in the 1960s by Cadbury, which was primarily a manufacturer of confectionery at the time. Smash was reasonably successful. However, it was not until 1974 that Smash became popular in the convenience food market after Cadbury launched an advertising campaign by agency Boase Massimi Pollitt featuring the Smash Martians, who would watch humans preparing mashed potato the traditional way on television instead of using potato granules, and laugh at them.[1][2] The 1970s adverts and their 'For Mash Get Smash' catchphrase were voted TV ad of the century by Campaign Magazine, and 2nd best television advert of all time in a 2000 poll conducted by The Sunday Times and Channel 4, beaten by Guinness' Surfer advertisement from 1999.

The brand has since been sold by Cadbury and is now owned by Premier Foods who, using their Batchelors brand, launched a 'healthier recipe' version in 2006.[3] Smash continues to be popular in the UK, selling 140 million servings a year. The texture of Smash is not identical to that of real mashed potato, being somewhat smoother. In recent years, flavoured varieties of Smash have also been made available, including Cheddar & Onion and Buttery.

Accolades

The original 1970s advertisements have been featured in several "best ever television advertisements" lists.

Creator Country Accolade Year Rank Source
Channel 4/The Sunday Times United Kingdom The 100 Greatest TV Adverts 2000 2 [4]
ITV United Kingdom ITV's Best Ever Ads (top 20 list) 2005 1 [5]

References

  1. ↑ "Smash advert". YouTube.
  2. ↑ "BBC News - ENTERTAINMENT - Martian ad a Smash hit". bbc.co.uk.
  3. ↑ Esther Addley. "For mash get Smash, for ham get Spam: nostalgia puts 70s brands back in shops". the Guardian.
  4. ↑ "UK TV Adverts - Fun Facts". uktvadverts.com.
  5. ↑ "thinkbox - Classic Ads". thinkbox.tv.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.