In my last post I mentioned the nostalgia for children’s toys as seen in the Santander’s commercials. How delighted I was therefore, to see that Lego have pulled from their illustrious archives their award winning stop-frame animation ad ‘Kipper’ by TBWA. It’s a surreal look at the things kids can make out of a Lego with a brilliant voice-over by the late and great British comedian Tommy Cooper. ‘I said a kipper not a slipper. Ha hah ha.”

This master-class of creativity, simplicity and charm has more than stood the test of time – it’s appearing on TV and at cinemas now. Well done to Lego and their agency for having the courage to air it again. Have a look for yourself on YouTube. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY9lctGCZZE

With Spanish financial giant Santander’s rescue of the beleaguered, bankrupt British banks, I’ve watched with interest to see how they manage the change process as familiar high street brands like Abbey disappear forever.

One thing struck me on watching the Santander commercials, and I hope it’s unintended, is the pattern forming of children’s toys from my past. Lewis Hamilton, 2008 F1 world champion spearheads the brand. He’s been depicted as a plastic construction model (Airfix), racing his model car (Scalextric) in front of a plastic crowd, Airfix again. And in the latest unintelligible commercial, we see the construction of a bridge from red toy bricks (Lego – Danish for ‘let’s play’). So here’s my confident prediction for the future – Meccano, the model construction system set up by one Frank Hornby in 1908, will make an appearance very soon.

Are we seeing an unintended ‘mash-up’ between James May on the BBC and Santander’s advertising campaign? Probably not – it’s just that good old nostalgia is back in fashion.