Vintage UK Fast Food Adverts (Vol.1)

[@mattbland2380]

The McD's "A Day in the Life" is by far my favourite of these. At the time I remarked at it's genius and it still stands up today all these years later. The music and sound design is superb. I note that this is the longer version with the 'you haven't lived' bit in it. There was a full length and shorter version of this ad.

[@RetroSteveUK]

"A Fille' o Fish for my Vife" ... living rent free in my brain for decades.

[@Club1981]

I miss Wimpy so much! I had a birthday party in the 80s in my local one and I still remember it to this day! Great memories 👌🏻

[@richardthornton77]

Fantastic selection - love seeing how “english” the McDonalds adverts are compared to some of the other retro selections on YT. I still remember the thrill of visiting on a rare Saturday out to town!

[@mubd1234]

As an Aussie, It's interesting how the American fast food chains in the UK use American accented voiceovers/singers, even when they have clearly been recorded for the UK market. American chains in Australia have always seemed to make a point of NEVER using American accented voices in them - even for jingles where it is common (even here) to sing in an American accent.

[@peterolley7159]

Very good point but brits always copy the yanks so hearing them advertise Mac Donald’s makes it sound even more inviting

[@burkeredh]

" one cup of charrr ! " great upload, many thanks

[@Highland_Moo]

All these ads for chains we didn’t have where I live back in the 80s and 90s…..I was born in the late 70s and live in a small village near the Isle of Skye in the highlands. Saw my first McDonalds when I was on holiday in Holland in 1987 and didn’t get to have a KFC until the day after my wedding in 2003! We were travelling down to Cornwall and we stopped at Perth so I could try one….I was hooked!

[@Highland_Moo]

There’s still a Wimpy in Dingwall…..it’s a proper sit-down place and the food is great. My kids loved going there when they were wee and I still stop there on the way home.

[@RetroSteveUK]

My first McD was at age 10, 1984 in London. I remember rejecting the hamburger because it had mustard. I love mustard now. Kids, eh!?

[@arthurvasey]

The only takeaway places that existed back when most of these ads were set were McDonalds, Wimpy and Burger King - and you never saw any more than one in the same town - and were miles from each other! The only other takeaway establishments that seemed to exist were fish and chip shops - couldn’t even get a decent pizza!

[@pyewackett5]

Still can't get a decent pizza where I live 🤢🤮

[@OofusTwillip]

We stopped seeing Big Mac, Mayor McCheese, and the other lesser McDonaldland characters, after McDonalds lost a lawsuit about the McDonaldland concept. The ad agency had contracted Sid and Marty Krofft (creators of "HR Pufnstuf") to create the McDonaldland concept, but abruptly fired them after seeing the designs, then created its own versions of the concept and characters. The Kroffts sued, and the case dragged on for several years. The Kroffts won, and McDonalds dropped all of the characters except Ronald, Grimace, and Hamburgler.

[@dominewimbury2039]

Oh! 😡 Wondered where they went

[@RetroSteveUK]

That's fascinating. I had no idea!

[@Lynne76]

I loved the advert with the grandfather giving his grandson heinze tomato soup, I keep hoping I see it while I am watching your videos, Good and they bring back memories, Thank you. 😊

[@pianov-i612]

The funniest ad I saw was on the tube. There was a picture of a whopper with the caption: It's not just big, Mac. It's just so right on every level.🤣

[@dieseldragon6756]

I've seen a meme of a Routemaster in Parliament Square with a Burger king ad featuring their signature burger and the slogan "Another Whopper on the side of a bus? Must be an election..." 🍔 🗳🤣 Yet having only seen this on Twitter thus far, I can't tell if it was genuine or doctored. 😇

[@davidjones6470]

Ooo that time again!!!! Nice upload Steve sir as always 👍

[@fredmason7425]

I'd forgotten that when you used to buy a bargain bucket from Kentucky you also got a couple of random bread rolls along with it for some reason.

[@dieseldragon6756]

I think there was some kind of tax dodge going on there. Possibly selling the bucket contents as a Chicken "Sandwich", except that for "convenience" this was assembled by the customer (If they wanted) 😉 Tax laws are weird enough in many places, but in the UK we seem to have made a cottage industry of it! 🤣

[@musicfan2511]

Loving your video collections. Thanks for the great memories 😊

[@RetroSteveUK]

😁👍

[@Matty112uk]

Of all the ads here, the Wimpy one was the best! I think I only had one three times in my life.

[@RetroSteveUK]

I had a Wimpy with my wife only yesterday. A new one opened up in our town recently.

[@andrewlewis563]

Great memories. Thanks for this :)

[@lukegreen5341]

3:19 I've Also Been To Wimpy Diner Restaurant In Beckenham Kent Near London In England In The United Kingdom Just Before Lego Batman The Movie At Odeon Cinema Movie Theatre In Beckenham Back In February 2017 And It Was Super Awesome American Diner Restaurant Too. Thanks A Lot Mate. X

[@RIXRADvidz]

the McD ''Soup'' made me genuinely laugh. Clever Daddy indeed. LOL !!!

[@thefrecklepuny]

Very telling the majority of these fast food ads were McDonald's! Certainly remember the one shown, which was one in a series of McD's ripping of Viz's 'Top Tips'.

[@RetroSteveUK]

I was getting a 'Little Britain' vibe from that one.

[@jwb52z9]

Ya know, I'm surprised fast food places are still open outside the US because I always hear about nearly every other nation on Earth being health conscious, frequently with laws to enforce it, now. The McDonalds commercial with the father being late is possibly the most odd one I've ever seen.

[@RetroSteveUK]

That one's considered a classic. The way the dad tells the baby how bad his mother-in-law's cooking is without realising they could all hear him on the baby monitor .. his reaction is priceless! 🤣

[@MrMann0123]

All the old McDonald's characters they've retired. And adverts basically having to explain burger shops to start with.

[@97channel]

5:12 Unusual to hear the word "chips" in a fast food ad. But it seems as though the marketing men were deliberately trying to make this particular ad as British as possible.

[@k20aa]

Good work 👍👍

[@rafiqadarr6217]

I like the burgers at McDonalds, the McPlant - and the chips - fries - are good, but always look as though someone has thrown them from a distance into the little cardboard pouch!! The burger looks the same, thrown into the box, literally!! 😂

[@RetroSteveUK]

Yeah the food is often a mess but tastes good. I always go for the Big Tasty when it's available, but that's only because it's like Burger King's Whopper, which I like more than the Big Mac.

[@El-Ritmo]

It's weird the things that stick in your head ("Fillet of fish for my wife" is never far from the surface of my thoughts whenever I think about McDonald's) or the convictions that never leave you (like very few things in history being worse than Ronald McDonald - only the likes of Attila the Hun or the Black Death spring immediately to mind 😁). It alwsys feels that McDonald's, like Coca-Cola, is so ubiquitous and universal that it seems strange they even need to bother advertising at all, but seeing so many of their ads together reminds me of how exciting it was when the first McDonald's opened in my home town - I remember everyone I knew wanting to go, and being proper made-up when they finally did. Nowadays that strikes me about the same as pleading with your mum and dad to take you to the new Tesco 😆

[@RetroSteveUK]

The filet o fish thing .. same here .. EVERY damn time I see or hear filet o fish referred to. 😆

[@danbrown7562]

Love Wimpy and early KFC still calling them 'chips'

[@chathamabs2011]

Hungry now. Wimpy...Hamburger, chips and....... cutlery🤭 Very British. Can remember Root Beer for a short time in McDonald's in Christchurch.

[@RetroSteveUK]

I just came across an ad today for McDonald's pizza. I'd forgotten that was a thing.

[@chathamabs2011]

@@RetroSteveUK I'd give it a go. Ever tried the Mincemeat and custard filled pie at Christmas? A lot of the limited editions are local variations but also depends on the franchise. The only things I don't like about McDonald's now is the price and having to get the kids one as well👌

[@TheSmoothie1973]

Nick Berry eating nuggets 🤣🤣🤣

[@hashtag_thisguy]

£2.88 value meal at mcdonalds always stuck in my head as a kid... The only item in the whole world that ended in 88p

[@Britfood]

Classic with Wicksy from EastEnders (Nick Berry) in the nuggets advert.

[@RetroSteveUK]

Been watching a few old episodes of Heartbeat lately with Nick Berry as the copper.

[@BenPanced]

I remember preferring Wimpy's over McDonald's the first time I'd visited London. The food was generally better.

[@RetroSteveUK]

I like the table service and cafe vibe at Wimpy.

[@lukegreen5341]

1:14 I've Been To Lot Of McDonald's And Pizza Hut And Burger King Fast Food Restaurants In Such As Tokyo And Kyoto And Osaka Japan And Los Angeles California And New York City In The United States Of America And The City Of London And Blackpool Lancashire In England And Glasgow In Scotland In The United Kingdom. Awesome. Thanks Mate. PS I've Also Very Excited For Going To Big McDonald's Restaurant In Orlando In Florida In The USA This Year. Wish Me Luck. Thanks Mate. X

[@RetroSteveUK]

Cool. Best of luck, then! 😁👍

[@Sjmby95]

I have not seen a wimpy except in London

[@RetroSteveUK]

A new one opened in my town last year. I love their breakfasts.

[@davidbowie2046]

"Fillet of fish for my vwife" 😂

[@RetroSteveUK]

Yep! That's lived in my head ever since I first heard it originally. 😂

[@davidbowie2046]

@@RetroSteveUK I still say it, to this day in my local chippy :)

[@thegroove5099]

The UK got a curry dipping sauce for McNuggets? Lucky.

[@RetroSteveUK]

*NOM!! Sweet & Sour's the best, tho' .. especially with those nuggets! 😋💦

[@MrMann0123]

Ha. A young Mr Nick Berry. Amazing all the folk who keep showing up like Matt LeBlanc in the Ketchup and Pepsi (or was it Coke) ads. I know it's the wrong video but I always hated the Pepsi taste test ads. I got to do the test once and was able to do what I'd always wanted to "that's Coke, that's Pepsi... I prefer the Coke"

[@RetroSteveUK]

I did the challenge once, adamant that I preferred Pepsi. I picked one and it was Coke! 🤣

[@luketodd8634]

Not sure if you'll know this information but do you have information about when these adverts were made. I like to look up what the prices of the food would be now based on inflation to see if people were being ripped off or not based on current standards.

[@RetroSteveUK]

I originally considered including the date info, but couldn't find it for every advert, so decided to leave it off completely. Way too much work on top of what I'm already doing, as well.

[@luketodd8634]

@@RetroSteveUK fair enough, I'm born in 2001 but my parents were mainly the ones interested in the dates as they were born in the mid 1960's. They've loved this channel since I showed them it

[@RetroSteveUK]

@@luketodd8634 Aww, that's lovely. What I really wanted to do was put the year of each advert into the TV display where it currently says "88mph", but as I can't get the info for every advert, it'd be a bit inconsistent.

[@baconsandwich2007]

I don't remember any of these! I must have been out!

[@RetroSteveUK]

Probably at McDonald's

[@AndreiTupolev]

These MacD's ads are very poignant. The days when you could go straight up to the counter, where an actual person would be eager to serve you, and you could get your order in less than a minute. Now there'll probably be one serving position open, and a wait of anything up to 10 minutes for your order.

[@RetroSteveUK]

The one new thing I like about McDonald's now is the table service. Our local one does that. You order at the terminal, sit down, and they bring your food on a tray.

[@stevengelatzku2288]

The Ronald McDonald... Impossible by todays standarts! But: He worked really well back in the days when clowns werent considered creepy by most children.

[@Beechgoose1]

I made up a rude version of the Wimpy "come on over..." jingle. My mate stole it, and used it when tryna chat up girls.

[@RetroSteveUK]

Saucy! I presume the rhyme had "my face" in it somewhere? 🤣

[@Beechgoose1]

@@RetroSteveUK Heheh no mate, it was the rest of it that i altered, but, as this is a family show...☺

[@garethbramley1]

All I can say is that I do not indulge in any of these products. Last time I had a Big Mac or McMuffin was in the mid 90s. As for KFC - never. There used to be a Wimpy down the road till a few years ago and there's been a MacDonalds on the retail park here since it opened some 20+ years ago. I did go in once - but only to view the newspapers they had - lol. I wonder if, in today's society, they still show these fast food adverts? Maybe so - with certain restrictions.

[@RetroSteveUK]

Gotta love those newspapers, eh? 😉

[@garethbramley1]

It was just a concert review I wanted to read (1998 or 1999) - lol. I never *buy* papers as I don't read them. I remember it was one evening so I may have even asked them for the review as it was too late to buy the paper for it. Hee hee. Can't recall now.

[@joeedwards9721]

At the end of the first Mcdonalds advert the dad grew a big liars nose, I'm suspicious about Mcdonalds now

[@RetroSteveUK]

Haha! I never spotted that!

[@joeedwards9721]

@@RetroSteveUK Mcfibber

[@magicmagicman]

You don't see fast food ads like these anymore. I assume a healthy eat law prevents them from being shown.

[@RetroSteveUK]

Not aimed at children like they once were. I think the law covers that.

[@jwb52z9]

Laws like that never successfully passed in the US.

[@MorrisseysMonkey]

Rather eat my toenails than a McDonalds.

[@RetroSteveUK]

No accounting for taste, huh? 🤣

[@candythomson844]

Would you like fries wae those

[@davidbrown7379]

5:36 100% real milk 😳

[@RetroSteveUK]

Not sure what the alternative would be, really! 🤣

[@BigBadJon101]

I wonder where my nearest Wimpy is?

[@RetroSteveUK]

My nearest Wimpy is in our town. A new one recently opened up. Went there for lunch with my wife yesterday! It was lovely! 😁

[@Meshal11YouTube15]

😋

[@dominewimbury2039]

Nick Berry lol

[@stevedickson5853]

Could just eat a Wimpy burger now..but try finding one

[@richardthornton77]

Going strong in felixstowe

[@RetroSteveUK]

Lol.. I had lunch at the Wimpy in our town yesterday! Just opened a new one here.

[@stevedickson5853]

Just 71 wimpys now n uk , your both lucky

[@alisonporter8508]

There's one on the sea front at Southend on Sea still I think.

[@RetroSteveUK]

@@alisonporter8508 I've been in that one, many years ago though. There was also one at Margate last time I was there. The one in Amersham I've been to a few times closed down a few years back.

[@sha.2429]

Wow all these ads bring back so many memories was that Nick Berry from EastEnders ? in the MC chicken ad I don't know about anyone else but KFC is not like it used to be it was so much more taster than know I really don't like it any more thanks for this really good stuff here retro Steve Clare 💟💯x

[@dominewimbury2039]

Yep, definitely Nick Berry

[@RetroSteveUK]

Yeah, I spotted him when doing the edit. Definitely Nick Berry.

[@Inaflap]

@@RetroSteveUK I spotted him in a heartbeat.

[@dominewimbury2039]

@@Inaflap 🙄

[@RetroSteveUK]

@@Inaflap Daamn! It took me a full ten seconds to get that joke. 😩🥸

[@cooper7031]

American commercial in the uk

[@RetroSteveUK]

😎

[@dieseldragon6756]

Did anybody else spot the absolute _doxxing_ of a celebrities financial details in one of these ads? 🍔💳😲 (N.B: Unlikely to be usable today as those cards haven't been issued in years, but I bet the celeb in question found a few unexpected entries showing up on their bank statement! 🙃)

[@RetroSteveUK]

I'd like to think a prop card with a fake number was used, but it does look pretty authentic. More innocent times, maybe? 😬

[@dieseldragon6756]

@@RetroSteveUK The PAN we see here appears to checksum correctly and the BIN is a Barclays issue, which we can also see noted on the text of the card. The printed PAN also matches the number embossed, and I'd expect a prop card to have a PAN starting „99“ (In the „Test/Experimental“ number ranges; Like the 555 exchange for U.S. theatrical telephone numbers) in any case. 💳 Out of curiosity I've shared a part-redacted screenshot of it on social media, with Barclays tagged in it. Admittedly my account's a silenced one (Mr. Musk seems to have some prejudice against disabled peoples posts having an audience) but if Barclays get back to my post I'll feed any updates through to here. 😇

[@RetroSteveUK]

@@dieseldragon6756 Should be interesting. 💳🤔

[@candythomson844]

Does anyone remember the mc hot dog

[@RetroSteveUK]

Yes, I do. I've been waiting for one of the adverts to turn up but nothing yet.

[@MrMann0123]

On reflection, whilst it was nice to see Ronald and his characters, dear God am I glad they were mostly killed off. One or two were okay but after a load of them... ugh

[@brittlecharm]

Fast food ads are so weird

[@RetroSteveUK]

A bit too 'clowny' for my liking. 🤡

[@HuntersMoon78]

No vegan bullshit in these ads.

[@RetroSteveUK]

The only vegetarian option back then was the apple pie, and I'm not even sure of that.

[@MrMann0123]

Ahhh... environmental destroying packaging that kept the food warm and Wimpy trying its best and yet always being a wee bit crap.

[@ophiocephalus]

Creepy......

[@RetroSteveUK]

Yep! Anything specific?

[@herbert9241]

McNuggets at 99p / six. Or just £1.47 / nine - giving you a pro rata saving of well under a halfpenny, i.e. well under the smallest possible currency denomination at the time. You'd have to buy something like ten boxes of nine to make good on that implied pro rata saving. The implied pro rata saving sting is best deployed at point of sale, not televised marketing campaign. Not that it's necessarily a bad deal if you're in the market for that type of product - but that particular company's marketing has offended my sensibilities several times over the years. I'd forgotten where the slogan originated but I've always remembered - "You've got it." Eureka! Burger King. I'd have been about twenty and popped in for a takeaway lunch during a shopping expedition. I thanked the young lady who served me and she seemed to reciprocate with something muttered under her breath as I turned away. I had to ask her to repeat it a couple of times until the penny dropped ... she was being held hostage by Burger King and obligated to parrot their marketing tag line to the punters. Given her predicament, she couldn't muster any enthusiasm. That's in no way intended as an indictment of her character; her manager at least should have been more flexible about organic human interaction. The company should have been a bit more flexible about goose-stepping authoritarianism in the workplace.

[@RetroSteveUK]

Got to feel sorry for what some staff have to go through in the name of corporate marketing.