Quinnsworth ad 1984.

darkdubh

Heres a blast from the past http://youtu.be/gGBR0ybCNRg

sh1tstirrer

Maurice Pratt I wonder what he is doing now?

tipptom

I am shocked at how expensive that stuff was then,rip of Ireland goes back more than a few years.

SBWife

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

Maurice Pratt I wonder what he is doing now?

He was CEO of C&C makers of Bulmers etc. until 2008. He's now on a bunch of boards both private co.s and semi- states.

Underdraft

Making of....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llkFpUaHsig

(I love how back then people called him "Darth")

The Princess Bride

tipptom wrote: »

I am shocked at how expensive that stuff was then,rip of Ireland goes back more than a few years.

Clothes were very expensive back then too,but people were happy to recycle and pass on to friends and family- no choice, I suppose.

fryup

remember the "yellow pack" tat

they even had yellow pack beer, shockin stuff

Yahew

It was expensive, huh? Average salary then was about £12K, or something.

sh1tstirrer

Yahew wrote: »

It was expensive, huh? Average salary then was about £12K, or something.

It was nowhere near it more like £8-9k/year.

Yahew

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

It was nowhere near it more like £8-9k/year.

Christmas must have bankrupted people.

beardedmaster

... I wish I was around back then... I can do a WAY better Darth Vader voice than that :P

WindSock

Hah, yeah it sounds like someone talking into a kitchen roll tube.

Yahew

I wonder if Lucas had anything to do with that add, or were they just hoping nobody in the US would hear about it.

Hart

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

Maurice Pratt I wonder what he is doing now?

I was in the College of Marketing and Design in 1984 and a big deal was made by the college when these TV ads first appeared as Maurice had graduated from there.

There was a great piece of graffiti in the main gent’s toilets that read; Maurice Price is a Pratt.

The Princess Bride

Yahew wrote: »

Christmas must have bankrupted people.

Was only a child, but reckon most people lived within their budget back then.
Saving for holidays,furniture etc... rather than using the credit card as a source of income.
Plus,tvs,dvds,playstations weren't on Santa's shopping list.



That yellow brand everything was wicked! The fact that it was yellow,and called yellow pack somehow made it not only look cheap but feel/taste cheap too.
Thank goodness most shop's own brands are better quality nowadays.

mike65

Yellow pack jobs are back in fashion.

Underdraft

What was the punt:sterling exchange rate like back then?

The Pratt offers
Speeder Bike IEP£6.99
Scout Walker IEP£14.99

Argos from almost the same time had
Speeder Bike STG£4.45
Scout Walker STG£6.95
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38301877@N05/3593486122/sizes/l/in/set-72157619206330728/

Even as a kid I got the impression stuff like toys were a rip-off compared to the UK. I wonder was that impression well founded?

Underdraft

Yahew wrote: »

I wonder if Lucas had anything to do with that add, or were they just hoping nobody in the US would hear about it.

Well considering Lucas made most of his fortune from the sale of toys and action figures I'm sure he probably wouldn't have cared in the slightest.

On the other hand if "Darth" had just been flogging oranges or frozen chicken in that ad I'm sure Lucas probably would have had his legal team onto Quinnsworth in minutes.

sh1tstirrer

Yahew wrote: »

Christmas must have bankrupted people.

Back then Christmas wasn't a big shopping spree like it is now. Credit cards weren't widely used so you had to survive with what money you had. Interest rates were high so not much borrowing.

Yahew

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

Back then Christmas wasn't a big shopping spree like it is now. Credit cards weren't widely used so you had to survive with what money you had. Interest rates were high so not much borrowing.

Quinnsworth felt they had a market for relatively expensive toys.

Niles

"How ya Darth!" - priceless.

L1011

I can remember when Smyths started growing in the 1990s they were often 20-40% cheaper than Quinnsworth and Toymaster franchisers for the exact same products.

charlemont

I remember it, Yes I agree some rip off prices then too.

Niles

Yeah, despite not even being born in 1984 I thought those prices looked a bit high for the era.

Funny, Currys also had a Darth-themed ad more recently, though arguably Star Wars wouldn't be as 'in vogue' now as it was then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXcoIN6tqXY

Underdraft wrote: »

On the other hand if "Darth" had just been flogging oranges or frozen chicken in that ad I'm sure Lucas probably would have had his legal team onto Quinnsworth in minutes.

I'd gladly pay Quinnsworth's legal expenses just to see such an ad!

Come to think of it I feel old just for remembering Quinnsworth itself.

L1011

Was doing some incredibly boring stuff with VAT yesterday and found that the top rate (which would have applied to toys) was THIRTY FIVE PERCENT at the time. There were a rake of lower rates for clothes, food, etc which is definitely part of why those prices seem so painful compared to others we remember.

fryup

tipptom wrote: »

I am shocked at how expensive that stuff was then,rip of Ireland goes back more than a few years.

Yahew wrote: »

It was expensive, huh? Average salary then was about £12K, or something.

yes 12k before tax

those prices were very expensive for the time

JupiterKid

I well remember those adverts. The fact is that - much as we moan and complain about the recession we are in now - things were a lot, lot harder back in the 80s.

Incomes were very low and prices were a total rip off. Remember, back then there wasn't anything like the competition there is today and most toys weren't made in cheap labour countries like China. In fact in 1984 pretty much nothing sold in the West was made in China.

Ireland has always been a rip off society and Irish retailers have always abused their position and ripped off their customers for as much as they could get away with.

My dad used to do a huge amount of shopping for goods up in the North and back then technically you couldn't take much across the border because of customs. People forget that the "good" old days were really the bad old days.

Manda76

I always complained to my parents I never got that Sindy doll house from Santa and never got any Sindy furniture..but looking at that ad the house was £49! how much would that be now I wonder.
The toys were so expensive, and looking at the other Quinnsworth ad from 1988 food was dear enough too, you got like a pint of milk free with coffee and one kitkat free with something else..such crappy offers compared to the offers we have now..thank god now we have Dealz and Aldi and other discount shops, I doubt there were shops like that in the 80s.
Although the toys from the 1980s were better made compared to todays toys..this is why you can still buy so many off ebay.

fryup

JupiterKid wrote: »

I well remember those adverts. The fact is that - much as we moan and complain about the recession we are in now - things were a lot, lot harder back in the 80s.

Incomes were very low and prices were a total rip off. Remember, back then there wasn't anything like the competition there is today and most toys weren't made in cheap labour countries like China. In fact in 1984 pretty much nothing sold in the West was made in China.

well said, and lets not forget that the social wefare paid pittence in comparison to today

baalthor

msthe80s wrote: »

Yahew wrote: »

Christmas must have bankrupted people.

That yellow brand everything was wicked! The fact that it was yellow,and called yellow pack somehow made it not only look cheap but feel/taste cheap too.
Thank goodness most shop's own brands are better quality nowadays.

Marketing theory says yellow pack style stuff is supposed to look cheap'n'nasty so you will be shamed into buying more expensive brands. Quinnsworth also had better labelled own brand products.

newmug

Manda76 wrote: »

I always complained to my parents I never got that Sindy doll house from Santa and never got any Sindy furniture..but looking at that ad the house was £49! how much would that be now I wonder.

fryup wrote: »

well said, and lets not forget that the social wefare paid pittence in comparison to today

Exactly. £49 was about a quarter of your weekly income........... IF you had a job!

Run_to_da_hills

tipptom wrote: »

I am shocked at how expensive that stuff was then,rip of Ireland goes back more than a few years.

You definitally wouldn't have seen computers or laptops on the shelves back then, they would have cost about 1/4 the average price of a house in the inner city at the time. :eek: