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The site where bad ads go to die. Best Ad Critic In The World™. I obsessively cover advertising creativity past, present, and future. Also, a copywriter/creative director with 30+ years experience. Yes, I've won lots of awards. Who gives a fuck.

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Best Ads Of The Last 50 Years: Tango Orange Man

The wonderful 1992 UK spot was quickly pulled because people are wusses.

Copyranter

Sep 1, 2022

Who’s the best ad mascot of all time? Tony The Tiger? The Jolly Green Giant? Kool-Aid Man? Mr. Clean? The Aflac Duck? The Charmin Shit Bears? Creepy Mr. Tayto?

All wrong. Tango’s Orange Man is the clear winner. The man (played by Peter Geeves) perfectly branded the experience of drinking tangy Tango Orange soda with a two-handed face-SLAP.

The commercial launched the very successful 1990s “You Know When You’ve Been Tango’d” campaign. However, it was soon pulled because playground kids began copying the Orange Man’s SLAP on each other (Wikipedia).

Try to imagine the backlash here in the US if a brand tried airing a similar execution.

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**L—Best Mascot Ever. R—The SLAP heard round The UK.**

Ad agency: HHCL (Howell Henry Chaldecott Lury and Partners), London. Thanks again to Neil Hopkins for the memory joggle.

PREVIOUSLY: Best Ads Of The Last 50 Years: 1999 Playstation spot deified gamers.

SHARE THE ORANGE MAN HERE