Stars tell favourite TV commercials

Variety Today - Flashback to 1995
Australian Commercials leave their mark

FRANK IFIELD has never forgotten the original Vegemite commercial which made a brief comeback in a re-edited version a few years ago. "I always liked it. It had one of those silly little tunes which never gets out of your head," he said. Another attraction was the ad's sepia treatment.

DELILAH fell in love with the short-lived but memorable commercial for Fuji film in which a Japanese mother is giving birth to a baby who pops out holding a camera and starts taking happy snaps. "I like it because it is unpredictable like me. It's the sort of commercial where you don't know what to expect next," she said. Delilah adores the baby's enthusiasm.

LITTLE PATTI loves the Good-O dog food ad in which a woman puts down her shopping bag to show mercy to a dog pretending to be hurt. In the meantime another dog comes along and runs off with a packet of Good-O in the elevator, pursued by his quickly recovered canine friend. "I think the dogs are lovely and it's a great example of someone helping someone else," she said.

PHIL CASS, who used to be a footballer for Souths in Brisbane before turning to performing magic shows, said his favourite commercial is the rugby league promotion featuring Tina Turner singing Simply the Best. "It brings back the glory days for me," he said. Still a keen football follower, these days Phil backs Manly and Norths in Sydney. He says the commercial makes him think about what he might have achieved if he had not given up playing the sport.

JOHNNY PACE remembers best a series of TV commercials he shot for Fay's Shoes in the early 70s. "How could I forget them, I shot 54 of them - two different ones a month," he said. The catchline, Happiness Comes in Pairs, sticks in his mind. In one ad he had to play a pirate and through the magic of television he had to conduct a sword fight with himself. In another, filmed at a zoo, he remembers he was dribbled on by a giraffe and attacked by an orangutan when he ran out of bananas.

KAMAHL is a fan of another Fuji film commercial in which a Japanese kid is taking various shots of family and friends. "It was just brilliant. It showed how if a kid could work a camera anyone could," he said. "It was clever how it depicted the innocence of a child in the world of an adult." Kamahl said the kid appeal factor worked very well.

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