At the weekend I was idly watching some television with the netbook on my lap (something that happens a bit too much) when out of the corner of my eye I noticed Johnny and Lisa on a TV ad.
I looked up, keen to see what the new Capital Radio TV ad would look like. Except, it wasn’t an ad for Capital. The absence of Capital branding around the studio and on the microphones was the first giveaway.
In fact it was an ad for Belvita Breakfast, a new breakfast biscuit from Kraft Foods (click through to see the ad in the absence of a YouTube version).

Now far be it from me to critique the creative merits of the ad. And at least they don’t pretend to be talking on the radio – a big Ofcom no-no according to the current Broadcasting Code. You’d be in breach of all sorts of things – not least undue prominance.
I do think it’s interesting that a current major breakfast show is being replicated in a debranded version for an advertiser.
At least they’ve used real DJs. There are those “so bad they’re good” Halifax adverts.

I’m not sure if anyone who made these ads had a clue about anything, but aside from Ofcom considerations, Halifax’s station has to be the most overstaffed service in existance. The Today Programme won’t have as many people working for it as are hanging around in the back of the Halifax’s radio station. (Broadcasting to who incidentally? Perhaps they should play this out in branches. That’d quickly drive custom elsewhere.)

I don’t feel quite as strongly about these ads as Nik Goodman does, but they’re undoubtedly appalling.
One more?