Them's The Breaks

Each episode, Them’s The Breaks takes a random 80s UK TV ad break and see what the ads are trying to do through the lens of modern brand and marketing theory, whether they succeed, what they tell us about the 1980s, and, most importantly, whether, intentionally or otherwise, they can make us laugh. It also looks at the programme the ad breaks feature within and ask, have they targeted this right? Join your hosts, marketing insights professional Martin, and Jon, a journalist with a career spanning a series of national newspapers, as they look at what was being hawked in the 80s, and how. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Them's The Breaks is a business podcast hosted by Them, with 13 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Them hosts Them's The Breaks, a business show with 13 episodes published.

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  Episode #13

  Episode 13 – The Weird Tentacles of Empire. (26th August 1985, Anglia – Surf, St. Bruno, Shower Electric, Del Monte)

  Aug 29, 20261h 14mS1

  Gather round you triskaidekaphobics out there, and fear not as we take you into the warm and safe bosom of our Them’s The Breaks August Bank Holiday Special!  And what a Special show we have. I’m not talking about us, of course - you can expect the usual old slop - but the Jim Davidson Special, which is the host show in question for this break. And what delights he delivers – potentially literally if you buy into the conspiracy theory we get sucked into during this episode. It’s an exquisite irony that a man who was soon to be known for Big Break should give us such a small break. The smallest we’ve so far covered, no less. But less, as is so often the case, is more.  We get an abstract expressionist take on laundry powder, whilst checking both our privilege and our wash temperature. We explore the confusing Bernard/ Bruno interface by means of a bit of the old ready-rubbed, all as Jon ponders a pipe dream.  We then beat a staccato rhythm to the pleasing, cleansing pulse of a vision of one nation under a hose, getting spruced just for the funk of it. And we round up this cavalcade of joy with what might be our first mock-patrician voiceover telling tall tales of a sweltering Britain, and are given a coy introduction to an 80s ad A-lister. This triggers a memory of when a 7-year-old Martin sowed the seeds of the ethos of this very podcast.  Contains the correct amount of swearing. You can find the ad break in question here:  https://youtu.be/QMpA_Jet1eE?is=-AagUT02hXEXgktM Many thanks to Kaleidoscope's Presentation Vault for releasing this clip into the world.  If you remember any of these ads and want to comment on them, or the show in general, you can find us here:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568524318900 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #13

  Episode 13 – The Weird Tentacles of Empire. (26th August 1985, Anglia – Surf, St. Bruno, Shower Electric, Del Monte)

  Aug 29, 20261h 14mS1

  <p>Gather round you triskaidekaphobics out there, and fear not as we take you into the warm and safe bosom of our Them’s The Breaks August Bank Holiday Special! </p><br><p>And what a Special show we have. I’m not talking about us, of course - you can expect the usual old slop - but the Jim Davidson Special, which is the host show in question for this break. And what delights he delivers – potentially literally if you buy into the conspiracy theory we get sucked into during this episode.</p><br><p>It’s an exquisite irony tha...

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #12

  Episode 12 – Sexual Overtones of Gravy. (29th October 1988, Grampian Television – Persil, Birdseye Steakhouse Grills, Halifax, Twix, Allied Carpets, John Menzies)

  Jun 27, 20261h 50mS1

  So we’ve reached a dozen episodes, and, as a treat, we’ve allowed ourselves day release from the mid-80s to hurtle through time to… the late-80s. It’s late 1988, the 88-89 season, if you will, and the decade is bursting into colour and creativity once again. And if you need to ask if that’s reflected in this ad break, well, you’ve not really been paying attention so far, have you? Still, we find solace in an extra treat: we’re joined for this episode by Iain McDermott, creator and host of the wonderful Back to Now! podcast. He takes a break from trawling through Now! compilation track listings for obscure, forgotten gems to help us sift through this break for obscure, forgotten, er, ads. And what of them?&nbsp; A director gets art-housey with some biccies.&nbsp; Persil (and Iain) school us in the catalogue of the post-Diana Ross Supremes, whilst seeing if a baby can pat a packet of washing powder more than Persil’s marketers can pat themselves on the back. We get misty-eyed about a group of soldiers of fortune bundling into a back of a van, sent to their homes for a culinary crime they didn’t commit. We then move from a beef-adjacent steak to a hefty serving of portentous Gambon, before being repeatedly whacked on the head with a spate of wacky snack action.&nbsp; After all that trauma, it’s time to take it nice and easy in the warm, comforting embrace of some heavy berber, and then up again to tackle the most radical corporate metamorphosis this humble podcast has yet, and probably ever will, encounter.&nbsp; Oh, and we need to talk about Prince. You can find the ad break in question here:&nbsp; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Mg4wWrRro&list=PLgz-lhXv5NMneIqCYzyCl-LylXrsS1DV6&index=10 Many thanks to The Ashmole-Day Collection for releasing this clip into the world.&nbsp; If you remember any of these ads and want to comment on them, or the show in general, you can find us here:&nbsp; https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568524318900 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #12

  Episode 12 – Sexual Overtones of Gravy. (29th October 1988, Grampian Television – Persil, Birdseye Steakhouse Grills, Halifax, Twix, Allied Carpets, John Menzies)

  Jun 27, 20261h 50mS1

  <p>So we’ve reached a dozen episodes, and, as a treat, we’ve allowed ourselves day release from the mid-80s to hurtle through time to… the late-80s.</p><br><p>It’s late 1988, the 88-89 season, if you will, and the decade is bursting into colour and creativity once again. And if you need to ask if that’s reflected in this ad break, well, you’ve not really been paying attention so far, have you?</p><br><p>Still, we find solace in an extra treat: we’re joined for this episode by Iain McDermott, creator and host of th...

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #11

  Episode 11 – For Sale. Correction Fluid. Barely Used. (June 1986 Yorkshire Television – Alliance & Leicester, Total Yoghurt, Volkswagen, Nurofen, Walkers Crisps, Xerox, Frontier Nightclub)

  Apr 25, 20261h 34mS1

  <p>So, double figures reached, once more unto the breach.</p><p>And brace ourselves we must as we venture into the wilds of God’s Own County. </p><p>Luckily, southern softy Martin has Yorkshire Television native Jon to be his guide. </p><br><p>At first, it’s hard to see anything different, the ads are as reassuringly national and branded as always. </p><br><p>First, we learn that when two great building societies meet, it is a humbling experience.</p><p>“Let me hear your bo-bozouki’s ringing out, honey disconnect the fridge” we then cry as we expand...

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