Smash is a brand of instant mashed potato in the United Kingdom. It was launched in the 1960s by Cadbury, which was primarily a manufacturer of confectionery at the time. Smash was reasonably successful.
However, it was not until 1974 that Smash became popular in the convenience food market after Cadbury launched an advertising campaign by agency Boase Massimi Pollitt featuring the Smash Martians, who would watch humans preparing mashed potato the traditional way on television instead of using potato granules, and laugh at them.[2][3]
The adverts of 1970s and their catchphrase "For Mash get Smash" were voted television advert of the century by Campaign magazine, and second-best television advert of all time in a poll of April 2000 conducted by The Sunday Times and Channel 4, beaten by Guinness's Surfer advertisement from 1999.
The brand has since been sold by Cadbury and is now owned by Premier Foods which, using its Batchelors brand, launched a 'healthier recipe' version in 2006.[4]
TV advertisements
The original 1970s advertisements have been featured in several "best ever television advertisements" lists.
References
- UK00001022226 Intellectual Property Office, 1973-12-14, retrieved 2019-11-02^
- Smash advert YouTube, 6 September 2006^
- Martian ad a Smash hit BBC News, 1999-12-20, retrieved 2019-11-02^
- Esther Addley. For mash get Smash, for ham get Spam: nostalgia puts 70s brands back in shops The Guardian, 2006-09-27, retrieved 2019-11-02^
- UK TV Adverts – Fun Facts uktvadverts.com, retrieved 2013-09-09^
- thinkbox – Classic Ads thinkbox.tv^