This year, ITV turns 70. To mark the moment, System1’s Andrew Tindall dug into generations of effective ads to help steer marketers today.
The average British living room has spent the better part of a century watching weird little boxes that make us feel things, sometimes unexpectedly, sometimes dramatically, and sometimes effectively.
To mark the occasion, ITV and D&AD joined forces with some of us in the effectiveness community to release a new report: Living Room Legends. A celebration of 70 years of iconic British TV advertising. Not just the campaigns that went viral or scooped trophies, but the ones that left a lasting impression, culturally and commercially.
As someone who spends their life waist-deep in ad testing data and marketing science, this report hit differently. Not because the System1 team helped create it. But because what it really shows, with story after story, is that great creativity isn’t a trend. It’s timeless, especially in TV.
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I hate LinkedIn wankers groaning on about old ads of the past, claiming creativity doesn’t exist anymore. Which is why this new publication is heroic.
Flip through the report and you’ll find plenty of the usual suspects.
Hamlet cigars and Smash Martians. Guinness Surfer and Sony Balls. Tango’s Orange Man. John Lewis’s Monty the Penguin.
But let’s drop the nostalgia and remember that this is a masterclass in what creativity really looks like across eras, categories and styles. Including what it looks like in the modern day.
Yes, the tools have changed. The targeting is tighter. The media landscape’s a multiverse now. But the principles that made Hovis timeless in 1973 still apply in 2025.
We’re talking about ads that stir emotion. Tell stories. Make people laugh. Create fluent devices. Build memory structures. And stick.
These aren’t just ads that worked at the time. They’re ads that still get referenced in pub conversations, pitch decks and TikTok trends today.
What struck me reading Living Room Legends was how much of the magic came down to repetition, bravery and clear branding. How important the idea is, sure, but then how important creativity over time and commitment is.
Take the Compare the Meerkat campaign. The idea is ridiculous. Aleksandr is ridiculous. But it’s still going 15 years later because it’s consistently branded, properly supported and emotionally memorable. It grew a once-generic aggregator into one of the most distinctive brands in the country.
It’s tempting, in modern marketing, to think we need to hijack the zeitgeist to matter. But most of the ads that still live in the public’s memory became cultural touchpoints by standing out, not by blending in.
TV ads have always had the power to shape culture. Levi’s Launderette changed how we saw jeans. Yorkie’s controversial ‘Not for Girls’ campaign started debates that still echo in today’s gender politics. John Lewis’s Christmas ads basically became Christmas.
Even Gold Blend’s steamy slow-burn saga, told across 12 years, gave Britain its first taste of prestige TV-style advertising, long before Netflix algorithms figured out we like unresolved sexual tension.
These weren’t just campaigns. They were chapters in British cultural history.
And the data backs it. We’ve seen it in the IPA Databank. We’ve seen it in System1’s ad testing. And actual market share data. When you commit to distinctive, emotional, consistent storytelling across time, not just campaigns, you build memory, meaning and market share.
You don’t need a viral gimmick. You need to matter to people consistently.
Which is why TV still works. Despite the digital revolution. Despite the targeting hype. Despite the channel fragmentation. TV is still where brands go to mean something. Not just be seen but be remembered.
You’ve read me gushing over TV. So what? What can we do with this collection of top ads and thinking? Well, we’ve made it free for all. Share it with your team. Pick three ads from it and ask yourself why they worked. And whether your current campaigns have any of those ingredients.
Take the principles beyond just TV, into all your advertising. To stir emotion and business growth.
Are you telling a story?
Are you making people feel something? Are you branding consistently enough to be recognizable? Are you building a fluent device or hoping a logo in the last frame will do the job? What associations are you building to really change behavior?
Are you creating ads that people will talk about 20 years from now or expensive digital wallpaper?
ITV’s 70th birthday isn’t just a trip down memory lane. It’s a reminder that TV is a big, bold, effective stage for brand building.
But let’s not turn this into an advertising nostalgia sing by the fire. Relish in the 70 top ads of British culture and then set your eyes on what’s next. The best work is still ahead of us. And I reckon those ads will use the seven principles shared in this killer new addition to any marketer’s repertoire.
All we need is the bravery to use them.