Tuesday 15 March 2016

Esso Blue Joe - On The Buses...


Back in me days of fame, I were a star of telly, newspapers, magazines, hoardings, signs, delivery vans and... buses! Bet yer didn't know that, did yer?

In late 1972, the advertisin' agency came up with a neat skit. As you know, all the ads ended with "Boom Boom Boom Boom - Esso Blue!" - that was the way they always closed, but other tunes were sometimes featured before the end jingle - like the Smoke Gets In Your Eyes skit of 1971 - and Blue, Blue, Blue in the 1960s. In the spring of 1972, Chelsea Football team released a record called Blue Is The Colour.

"Blue is the colour, football is the game..." it went. And it got into the top pops chart - or whatever they call it.

Well, blue was Esso Blue's colour an' all, so the ad people thought it would be a great campaign tune for us for  the 1972/73 winter season.

So, we teamed up with Chelsea football team and did an ad about a sing-song after a match while the lads were splashin' about in the bath.

"Blue is the colour, smokeless is the flame..."

It 'ad the same tune as the football song.

And in late 1972, I ended up on the buses - me in me shorts sayin' "All together now". I know it looks a bit daft with the 'eadless footballers runnin' after the ball, but when the bus 'ad passengers on, their 'eads became the footballers' 'eads - if yer see what I mean.

That bus ad campaign lasted a whole year.

Yer just couldn't get away from me in them days.

JOE x

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