Remember when this came out for the very first time. The papers told us what time it was being broadcast and thought it was amazing as it went on for so long. Looking back at the stuff they were advertising though.................. pretty piss poor by today's standards.
The Woolworths in Walsall was replaced with TJ Huges, that went bump too as it was like a low quality Woolworths. Now we have a Poundland in there to go with the other Poundland, 99p store and some other pound shop with a name i forget... Closest to Woolworths is probably our Wilkinson store.
And nearly time for me to drive my kids mental,as I sing this jingle every year!Adverts so much better then,tho that new John Lewis ad with the Smiths track nearly makes me cry!!Just lovely xx
my grandmother has alzheimers and every 10 minutes she talks about her first job in woolworths in Dublin and then how she got a transfer to Glasgow and then how she got another transfer to London after the war and that she was the only catholic woma working there......and then I tell her that Woolworths has closed down, and she says in her irish accent: "oh has it? .... oh dear..." and she looks all sad......I love woolworths....:)
when you were a kid you knew it was close to christmas when these adverts started airing. Strange the memories that this ad and tune can bring back even after all this time.
This is a mini production in itself with original music too! Must have cost Woolies a fortune then. Seem to recall W made a feature of these special ads at Xmas - I'm sure there's another one with other celebs including - get this - Georgie Fame singing.
What a sham we have so many foriegners, so many greedy men at the top and a country that isnt worth spitting on any more? woolworths was a great british store for great british people....why did this govt let it sink? brilliant place and like all u say on here...what memories we have. Thats one thing this crappy govt cant steal, they do with everything else !
@Harkenish That's an interesting thought since F.W Woolworth was originally an American company, in fact the last Woolworth's store that I saw was in Berlin, New Hampshire in 1993.
Always loved this advert and never forgot the great catchy little song. Wish they would release it to buy. I so fancied one of the cossack dancers---------still do as it happens,29 years later.Lol!! Wonder what he's doing now??
@Flickyhecky Do you by any chance mean the Boots xmas advert that repeated itself over and over one afternoon on ITV about 20 times?, I distinctly remember watching it with my sister, we couldn't believe our eyes, obviously a broadcast error! All I remember is that it involved a Santa and reindeer cartoon.
@NaiIGun you are remembering the 1981 Boots Xmas campaign, but there is no way for it to have been repeated 20 times by mistake. It was simply not possible for that to happen with the technology available back then. If you wanted to show the same thing 20 times back-to-back, you had to compile it onto film or tape 20 times back-to-back.
@dunebasher1971 Their's quite a few people who remember seeing the Boots advert in the LWT region, and they say it went on for a while, possibly 6 adverts back to back. It's ingrained on my memory because of the catchy tune they used.
@dunebasher1971 The advert WAS indeed repeated many times over (though possibly not 20) and it wasn't 1981 it was the mid 80s, as Flickyhecky says it was in the LWT region. It cannot have been impossible as it happened before our very eyes mid afternoon and we've often discussed it since.
This brings back many memories. I was 9 years old in 1981 and still sing this at christmas time, i've always remembered this xmas ad. Such a shame what happened to woolies. Our goverment should have saved woolworth....it would'nt have cost that much if you compare it to how match the greedy banks were bailed our for...... greedy bastards.... RIP good old woolies
Has an ex woolies employee this ad always brings back very happy memories - I agree with elliesparkle3 I sing it every year and it should be released - Woolies lives on in my memory.
this has to be one of the best ever christmas adverts that was ever produced why cant they produce christmas adverts like this nowadays with its catchy little tune
The quintessential christmas advert with a really catchy tune. The memories have come flooding back. Not a computer in sight! I don't know why but I still whistle the tune around christmas time! By the way (Knight3857) - didn't see Una Stubbs in the advert. I think the 'ringmaster' is Anita Harris - quite a popular singer and actress in the 60's and 70's. She had her own show at one point. I think she has fallen on hard times of late. It was in the papers. Shame about Woolies... :(
Im 24 years old,and alot of my christmas memories are related to this store.I remember going downtown with my mom as a child and seeing the hamsters and birds,and the older kids would be on the arcade machines
I can still recall how Woolworths used to be in the 80's with that funny W logo, red backsground sign and white italic letters, and it was called Woolworth without the "s". Sadly missed on the high street nowdays. damn the likes of Tesco! The store in Basingstoke was one of the last to retain this old look well into the 90's!
It seems like yesterday. I was 12 and the world seemed like a wonderful place. I miss those times. When youre 12 you just want be 16. My mother tells me I was clothed in woolworths from birth. Clearly this has influenced my current dress sense - ladybird y fronts aha!
Good to see the Goodies and I think it was Una Stubbs in there - aunt Sally!
This is legend!!! I used to sing my head off to this when I was a little girl (I was 4 when this advert came out) and we always knew Father Christmas would soon be coming when the Woolies Chrimbo advert started being shown on the telly. Happy days....
The performers in this advert were the UK band called Gold (with lead vocalist Lisa Allen) who specialised in performing musical jingles at that time. (They also did the Ever Ready "Power to the people" battery advert.) The music in this advert was written by Rod Allen of ABM, advertising agents for Woolworths, and had previously been used in the "Everything your home needs" Woolworths adverts which pre-dated Super Trouper.
I seem to recall (but no-one else does) that Woolworths asked ABBA to do some of their ads for christmas 1980. And they did one long version - the length of a full break - based on their hit "Supertrooper" shown on xmas day. They also did a few shorter ads too. They were reputedly paid £1,000,000 for this, which caused a stir in the press at the time. It was such a successful campaign that, Woolies wanted them to do more ads the next year, but they declined.
What are the goodies doing in this.
oliverstuart4 1 month ago
LOL I thought I was the only one who sings this still! it drives my wife mad,.....
blazer666del 1 month ago
Remember when this came out for the very first time. The papers told us what time it was being broadcast and thought it was amazing as it went on for so long. Looking back at the stuff they were advertising though.................. pretty piss poor by today's standards.
taffythesheep 2 months ago
The Woolworths in Walsall was replaced with TJ Huges, that went bump too as it was like a low quality Woolworths. Now we have a Poundland in there to go with the other Poundland, 99p store and some other pound shop with a name i forget... Closest to Woolworths is probably our Wilkinson store.
Barcrest 3 months ago
HAVE A FUCKING CHRISSTMAS AT WOOLWATHS AND SHOVE IT DOWN FREE
UWANTAMANGO 3 months ago
And nearly time for me to drive my kids mental,as I sing this jingle every year!Adverts so much better then,tho that new John Lewis ad with the Smiths track nearly makes me cry!!Just lovely xx
crassazell 3 months ago
Lol,my mum has that Elvis chrimbo record,comes out every year!.Didn't get from woolies tho,Boots record shop!Anyone remember them??
crassazell 3 months ago
Poor Old Woolworths, really a sign of the times that they shut down.
haMMy27691 3 months ago
look at the size of that quality street tin!, obviously not just me getting bigger as I got older.
am1933 3 months ago
@am1933 Yeah but check the price out...it cost a fortune then
blazer666del 1 month ago
no mobile phones ,people spoke to faces in those days
defoekeane 4 months ago
no xboxs playstations dvds videos blu-rays those were the days
courtney359 4 months ago
@courtney359 did u see half way thru there was a twin cassette tape deck hi fi or whatever they used to be called.
peterpeterxxo 4 months ago
@peterpeterxxo yeah that was cutting edge technology back then lol
courtney359 4 months ago
it a good jingle.. they should have put this out as a 7"single. could defo see this bothering the xmas 81 top 10.
peterpeterxxo 4 months ago
They don't make TV Ads (Christmas or otherwise) like that anymore. Thanks for uploading. R.I.P. "Woolies".
drpoxy 4 months ago
this is a bit rude, at the start they sing..."have a fucking christmas, at woolworths".
peterpeterxxo 4 months ago
Denim gift set...yeah baby..lol
teenlebean 4 months ago
my grandmother has alzheimers and every 10 minutes she talks about her first job in woolworths in Dublin and then how she got a transfer to Glasgow and then how she got another transfer to London after the war and that she was the only catholic woma working there......and then I tell her that Woolworths has closed down, and she says in her irish accent: "oh has it? .... oh dear..." and she looks all sad......I love woolworths....:)
sourpinklemons0809 5 months ago
I really thought the first words were ' Have a crappy christmas at Woolworth's'. Given subsequent events I suppose all the ex staff certainly are....
xr6lad 5 months ago
I heard that Hazell Dean sang on a Woolworths Christmas advert before she became famous - I'm guessing this is it.
michaelleacy 5 months ago
@michaelleacy - I never knew this but upon listening closely I agree - it does sound rather like her.
drpoxy 4 months ago
That denim gift range looks awesome
stuhoo 5 months ago
I wish they didn't get rid of Woolworths cos' ours got replaced with Sports Direct, as if there's not enough sports shops in the UK already!
1996Coaster 6 months ago
R.I.P. Woolworths.
UnitedCommunists 6 months ago
Great add, not like Woolie and Worth who brought down the whole company ;)
iosnick 6 months ago
Woolies.Worked there at the end. A Woolworth Superstore. Too expensive and full of rubbish. But the nostalgia - brilliant!
smcgonigle1974 6 months ago
awww woolies =-( i used to love buy my kids coats out of there and the pic a mix rip woolies! lets home u mange to come back one day! x
xxleannebabyxx 6 months ago
when you were a kid you knew it was close to christmas when these adverts started airing. Strange the memories that this ad and tune can bring back even after all this time.
Barcrest 7 months ago
This is a mini production in itself with original music too! Must have cost Woolies a fortune then. Seem to recall W made a feature of these special ads at Xmas - I'm sure there's another one with other celebs including - get this - Georgie Fame singing.
MrPoupard 7 months ago
What a sham we have so many foriegners, so many greedy men at the top and a country that isnt worth spitting on any more? woolworths was a great british store for great british people....why did this govt let it sink? brilliant place and like all u say on here...what memories we have. Thats one thing this crappy govt cant steal, they do with everything else !
Harkenish 1 year ago
@Harkenish That's an interesting thought since F.W Woolworth was originally an American company, in fact the last Woolworth's store that I saw was in Berlin, New Hampshire in 1993.
OlegKostoglatov 9 months ago
This was the best - helped in part by Tim and Bill's appearance and that catchy jingle!
liepinshtein 1 year ago
This brings back some great memory's...i miss Woolworths:(
metalheadprime2 1 year ago
Brilliant but im sure there was another version of this ad the following year with different celebs! One being Eric Bristow.
AndyPandemonium69 1 year ago
@AndyPandemonium69 Eric Bristow appeared in the 1983 adverts.
allen1jeremy 7 months ago
this must be the best Christmas advert ever ... i remember seeing it on tv all those years ago ...it brings back happy memories! ...Fantastic!!! ;0)
skidig65 1 year ago
Always loved this advert and never forgot the great catchy little song. Wish they would release it to buy. I so fancied one of the cossack dancers---------still do as it happens,29 years later.Lol!! Wonder what he's doing now??
prince151000 1 year ago
i seem to remember having that clock
78rikkers 1 year ago
@Flickyhecky Do you by any chance mean the Boots xmas advert that repeated itself over and over one afternoon on ITV about 20 times?, I distinctly remember watching it with my sister, we couldn't believe our eyes, obviously a broadcast error! All I remember is that it involved a Santa and reindeer cartoon.
NaiIGun 1 year ago
@NaiIGun you are remembering the 1981 Boots Xmas campaign, but there is no way for it to have been repeated 20 times by mistake. It was simply not possible for that to happen with the technology available back then. If you wanted to show the same thing 20 times back-to-back, you had to compile it onto film or tape 20 times back-to-back.
dunebasher1971 1 year ago
@dunebasher1971 Their's quite a few people who remember seeing the Boots advert in the LWT region, and they say it went on for a while, possibly 6 adverts back to back. It's ingrained on my memory because of the catchy tune they used.
Flickyhecky 1 year ago
@dunebasher1971 The advert WAS indeed repeated many times over (though possibly not 20) and it wasn't 1981 it was the mid 80s, as Flickyhecky says it was in the LWT region. It cannot have been impossible as it happened before our very eyes mid afternoon and we've often discussed it since.
NaiIGun 1 year ago
This brings back many memories. I was 9 years old in 1981 and still sing this at christmas time, i've always remembered this xmas ad. Such a shame what happened to woolies. Our goverment should have saved woolworth....it would'nt have cost that much if you compare it to how match the greedy banks were bailed our for...... greedy bastards.... RIP good old woolies
ricky070572 1 year ago 17
@ricky070572 Do you remember the Boots xmas advert that went on for 10 minutes, i seem to be the only one to remember it!
Flickyhecky 1 year ago
@ricky070572 I agree with every word!
adelejameson 7 months ago
Has an ex woolies employee this ad always brings back very happy memories - I agree with elliesparkle3 I sing it every year and it should be released - Woolies lives on in my memory.
CardsCandlesAndKarma 1 year ago
and now they are no more another part of broken uk
vania1013 1 year ago
I loved this song! Still sing it at Christmas time - it should be released!
elliesparkle3 1 year ago
wonderful xx
nickp1205 1 year ago
i think there were 2 versions of this ad
nweeks45 1 year ago
haha , no wonder people have bad bloody eyesight all that squinting !!
Jackariaeh1 1 year ago
absolutely SUPERB
aceshighstreet 1 year ago
this has to be one of the best ever christmas adverts that was ever produced why cant they produce christmas adverts like this nowadays with its catchy little tune
dragonaire64 1 year ago
The quintessential christmas advert with a really catchy tune. The memories have come flooding back. Not a computer in sight! I don't know why but I still whistle the tune around christmas time! By the way (Knight3857) - didn't see Una Stubbs in the advert. I think the 'ringmaster' is Anita Harris - quite a popular singer and actress in the 60's and 70's. She had her own show at one point. I think she has fallen on hard times of late. It was in the papers. Shame about Woolies... :(
Squeakier 1 year ago 4
Cracking Stuff
smellycatchris 1 year ago
This advert takes me back!!
saxonfield 1 year ago
Im 24 years old,and alot of my christmas memories are related to this store.I remember going downtown with my mom as a child and seeing the hamsters and birds,and the older kids would be on the arcade machines
5starwrestlingradio 1 year ago
FIRST SHOP I EVER SHOPPED AT WAS WOOLIES NEW FERRY USED TO BUY MY RECORDS FROM WOOLIES
MISS THE SHOP SO MUCH A FREIND DIED THE DAY IT WENT BANKRUPT
BLAME THE MANAGEMENT
fencekitten 1 year ago
I can still recall how Woolworths used to be in the 80's with that funny W logo, red backsground sign and white italic letters, and it was called Woolworth without the "s". Sadly missed on the high street nowdays. damn the likes of Tesco! The store in Basingstoke was one of the last to retain this old look well into the 90's!
Markjuk 1 year ago
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Markjuk 1 year ago
Comment removed
Markjuk 1 year ago
It seems like yesterday. I was 12 and the world seemed like a wonderful place. I miss those times. When youre 12 you just want be 16. My mother tells me I was clothed in woolworths from birth. Clearly this has influenced my current dress sense - ladybird y fronts aha!
Good to see the Goodies and I think it was Una Stubbs in there - aunt Sally!
knight3857 1 year ago
Thinking on makes me miss my Dad.Am sat here with tears coursing down my cheeks!Why are dads so much better at Xmas than Mums.Mine was anyway!!
crassazell 1 year ago
I miss it too!Plus I still sing this every Xmas.How sad am I.Was 9 when this particular one came out!
crassazell 1 year ago
everything was so british back then i miss those days
earth123ism 1 year ago 2
This is legend!!! I used to sing my head off to this when I was a little girl (I was 4 when this advert came out) and we always knew Father Christmas would soon be coming when the Woolies Chrimbo advert started being shown on the telly. Happy days....
mrsstreety 1 year ago
that was a good commercial. I miss Woolworths. they were a pretty good store.
loveshair 2 years ago
happy now ,abba
snips42 2 years ago
my little boy used to love to sing along to this xmas advert, he's now 28 !! and remembers it, aw !! toys and wrappers everywhere xmas morning !!
julie59ify 2 years ago
The performers in this advert were the UK band called Gold (with lead vocalist Lisa Allen) who specialised in performing musical jingles at that time. (They also did the Ever Ready "Power to the people" battery advert.) The music in this advert was written by Rod Allen of ABM, advertising agents for Woolworths, and had previously been used in the "Everything your home needs" Woolworths adverts which pre-dated Super Trouper.
jmr1954x 2 years ago
Thanks for posting this, it takes me back. This is a proper advert, a pantomine like extravaganza!
WeatherProbe 2 years ago
Aaaah...The famous ad that ABBA sued Woolies over. Hee hee!
agfagaevart 2 years ago
is this true? did abba sue? and what for?
maxi2l 2 years ago
I seem to recall (but no-one else does) that Woolworths asked ABBA to do some of their ads for christmas 1980. And they did one long version - the length of a full break - based on their hit "Supertrooper" shown on xmas day. They also did a few shorter ads too. They were reputedly paid £1,000,000 for this, which caused a stir in the press at the time. It was such a successful campaign that, Woolies wanted them to do more ads the next year, but they declined.
agfagaevart 2 years ago
So Woolies did their sound-a-like ad, which ABBA sued them over for an undisclosed out-of-court sum.
agfagaevart 2 years ago