Classic ads from around the world

Do you sometimes find yourself humming jingles from the ’90s? Are there any catchphrases that you’ve heard one too many times?

We’ve compiled a few funny adverts from around the world to take you down memory lane – from Nestlé France’s chocolate-eating goldfish, to dolls dressed up as cod roe in Japanese Kewpie adverts, read on to see which classic adverts you recognise and watch others that were popular around the world!

Cheeky Maurice

Where did the chocolate pudding disappear to?! In this Nestlé France advert for Chocosui’s, a child accuses his goldfish, Maurice, of eating all the chocolate pudding. The advert uses the phrase “pousser le bouchon” (literally “push the cork”), which means to exaggerate. The expression “tu pousses le bouchon un peu loin Maurice” is still very popular and is practically an idiom itself!

It’s Jake, from State Farm

In this advert for American insurance company State Farm, a wife catches her husband on the phone to someone in the middle of the night. Immediately growing suspicious, she takes the phone from her husband and speaks to the mystery person herself… it’s Jake, from State Farm!

What’s your battery?

Simple is better. This Lebanese ad for battery brand Rayovac masters the art of repetition, featuring different voices asking the same question over and over again: What’s your battery?

Do you want to be a Simba Chippie?

Simba Chips is a popular crisps brand in South Africa, and they made an advert that was incredibly popular throughout the ‘90s. Viewers see potatoes being dug out of the ground and taken to a factory, all the while singing about how they want to be “Simba chippies”.

Cod roe is coming for you!

To advertise their pasta sauce, Kewpie dressed up their mascot (a Kewpie doll) as cod roe, and depicted a swarm of identical dolls heading towards a child eating pasta. Why cod roe? Because their sauce used tarako (cod roe) in the seasoning! The dolls sing “cod roe, cod roe, full of cod roe, cod roe is coming to you…” as they approach the gob-smacked child.

Didn’t see your favourite classic advert on the list? Share it by tweeting us at @ccultureint using the hashtag #CCInvolved!