Ebeneezer Scrooge Christmas ad

This Joyce Mayne ad from 1989 contains multiple layers of delight for retro ad lovers.

There's the amateur make-up, the camera's use of the crash zoom, the deliberate audio malfunction in the dodgy rendition of 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' and the cheesy game show-style voice-over reminiscent of Tim Shaw's 'But wait, there's more!' catch-cry.

This is a great example of advertising as an expression of the hopes and desires of people living in that time. The products being advertised include a walkman – which played cassettes and was the precursor to the discman which played CDs, a Samsung television (with remote!) and a Sharp video camera. It's fascinating to think that a smartphone now has the same capabilities (and more) as these three items combined.

The miserly character of Ebeneezer Scrooge references the famed character in Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol.

This ad comes from a recording of NBN 3 News, Newcastle on 21 December 1989.

Notes by Beth Taylor