BASF Tapes

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Tony Williams – who also directed the Gregg's "Different Faces" advertisements, and went onto direct the Crunchie Bar "Gold Rush" and Toyota "Bugger" advertisements – achieved further distinction with this advertisement.

This advertisement, made for BASF audio tapes, won international awards and was one of the most famous commercials of the 1980s.

The imagery evokes the top-rating TV series M*A*S*H (so much so that the first two names on the mail call – O'Reilly, Pierce – were M*A*S*H characters), and even drops in a Humphrey Bogart line for good measure. Drawing upon these pre-existing popular culture tropes cuts the actual branding time to a few silent seconds.

It was filmed at Red Rocks, on the South Wellington coast.

Learn more about this advertisement on NZOnScreen.