Weird UK butter ad, late 90s.

Hangdogroad · 30-06-2020 08:49AM #1

Ive mentioned this elsewhere to no avail. Wonder if this rings a bell with anyone? I remember this ad which aired circa between 97-99. It might have been for Utterly Butterly or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. The ad seemed to be inspired by Monty Python TV series with shades of the Goodies plus an element of grindhouse movie in particular Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It was deliberately shot to look like it dated from the 70s with slightly washed out colour and retro fashions on the actors. There were short fake continuity links like the ones on Python, these had a guy who looked like Graham Garden circa 1970 outdoors holding a microphone and he had a Scottish accent. One line of his i remember was "well, good news". It ended with this attractive blond woman in go go boots in a kitchen being menaced by a gibbering guy with a Chainsaw who bursts through her front door and her face freeze frames in exaggerated horror. (Pastiche of bad acting in 70s horror moves)

Hangdogroad · 30-06-2020 05:45PM

Also at the very end, during the chainsaw sequence a Pythonesque piece of music can be heard. It sounds vaguely like the Python theme even down to the "bong" but it's just different enough to avoid claims of plagiarism.

GinSoaked · 30-06-2020 05:57PM

Hands up who is following this thread because they either think the OP is an interesting nutter or really want to see a youtube video of this advert

btw until I started looking online I never realised how mad some of the butter/spread adverts were............

Hangdogroad · 30-06-2020 06:49PM

Lol, I swear I'm not making this up.

A few more details I've remembered. There was a brief shot of a guy dressed as a Viking saying "and" before the shot returns to the continuity guy. This seemed to be a nod to that Robinson Crusoe type character who would appear in the opening credits of Monty Pythons Flying Circus and just say "its" .

Woman in the kitchen was ironing. She's menaced by two weirdos who both wear goggles and shabby ragged suits. We see a big hole being cut in the door by a chainsaw from outside and this small gibbering guy comes through it and points at the woman. A larger guy comes through the hole and pushes him out of the way then glares around the room. It then cuts to the woman's reaction shot.

Hangdogroad · 02-07-2020 01:35PM

The only other thing I can think of in terms of trying to identify it is that the 70's type TV continuity guy with the Scottish accent looked exactly like Graham Garden in this picture, down to the sideburns, glasses and jacket.

George White · 07-07-2020 05:17PM

Scottish comedic actor...
Did a lot of ad work.
Was it Lewis MacLeod, by any chance?

Hangdogroad · 07-07-2020 06:36PM

George White wrote: »

Scottish comedic actor...
Did a lot of ad work.
Was it Lewis MacLeod, by any chance?

Not previously familiar with him but looking him up he'd be the right age, late 20s when ad came out.

George White · 08-07-2020 09:24PM

He did the voice for Sebulba in Star Wars - Phantom Menace.
Also a lot of games.
But he can do that 70s announcer-type voice. Works a lot with Peter Serafinowicz - Look Around You (and Serafinowicz voiced Darth Maul).

Hangdogroad · 10-07-2020 08:48AM

Just to add there was a shorter edited version of it as well, which cut straight to the kitchen scene.

Hangdogroad · 12-05-2021 12:02PM

Found a followup ad, as Anglormedo said in another thread it's for Move Over Butter. Its at the 1:27 mark,, it has the Graham Garden lookalike tv presenter, the guys with chainsaws and the vaguely Pythonesque music when they turn up. Going on what goes on in this one I can remember a few more details about the one with the blond woman. TV guy says Mrs "insert name" says shed give her left arm. So it was heavily implying the chainsaw guys were going to cut her arm off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C3CAVnoyMg

Hangdogroad · 20-05-2021 11:06AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZEKQa-JbSs

branie2 · 25-05-2021 09:42PM

I think he looked like Eric Idle

Hangdogroad · 01-06-2021 08:03PM

There was another ad from circa 2000 that I'm pretty sure was for Move Over Butter. It had a Mrs Doyle type housewife luring all these men into her house and hypnotising them, she was on the phone to some other wan and going "I've just caught another one, how many have you?".

Hangdogroad · 07-09-2022 05:34AM

The followup ad again as it disappeared and reappeared since.

https://youtu.be/H9wxNcEBXD4

Hangdogroad · 06-06-2023 01:22PM

Another ad in the series at the 1: 34 mark. Includes the Pythonesque Viking.

https://youtu.be/XBPBm1J3awg

Hangdogroad · 25-07-2023 03:49PM

Waterford Today 1995-2005, Tuesday, March 10, 1998 - Page 25.png

Seems the tv ads were connected to a car competition in which people would send in "zany" suggestions for what they'd do for the taste of Move OverButter. The line "Its payback time" refered to the prize of the car. This is from March 98 and article states ad campaign had begun previous year.

George White · 25-08-2025 06:18PM

Seems to be an Irish only ad. The old man in the ad, Charles Simon was in Father Ted as the eldest of the Craggy Island over -75's all-priests five a side football team. But he was English (and based there, his scenes mostly shot in LWT IIRC), so I wonder was the ad shot in the UK?

Uses the Sousa music used in Doc Savage to simulate Liberty Bell (also by Sousa) for a Python feel.

George White · 25-08-2025 06:19PM

It's not a legally distinct soundalike of the Python music (Libertv Bell by Sousa). Liberty Bell by Sousa is in public domain. The piece used is also by Sousa, but it's the Thunderer, though better known by me as

https://youtu.be/Tk1Q-5M2-qA

Hangdogroad · 25-08-2025 07:24PM

Great detective work. I thought the old lad looked familiar.

George White · 25-08-2025 07:38PM

He was also Dr Dale on Mrs Dale's Diary, the BBC radio soap of yore.

Hangdogroad · 25-08-2025 07:39PM

I recognise him now from the Singing Detective as well, he was one of the patients Michael Gambon was sharing the ward with in the hospital scenes.

George White · 26-08-2025 05:41AM

iirc he was at the time the oldest working actor in Britain.

Weird UK butter ad, late 90s.

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