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The Mandela Effect: False Memory

AgProv said:
Probably explicable in context. But.
Not an AdTurd as such, but I was watching Channel Five earlier tonight (Well. sometimes you have to, I don't make a habit of it) and the show was "Britain's Best Christmas Adverts". All the familiar ones, yes, and some obscure gems from the archives like Twink Home Perms from the 1950's. ("look your very best for your man at Christmas") Most of it was familiar and fun. But for about 15 minutes presenter Julian Clary, for it was he, went off on a tangent about something I'd honestly never, ever, seen before and had no idea existed. This series of adverts has apparently been running every Christmas for four years and have been a huge, huge, hit, earning big awards from ad industry luvvies and big prizes for creative excellence. But I just do not remember ever having seen them, and this is not a thing you'd forget - cuddly cute teddy bears called the Bair family flying into Heathrow every year for a family reunion, the ads morphing into a year-upon-year mini soap opera. Full of schmaltz and schlock, as you might expect in December, but basically inoffensive. It was just that... I'd honestly never, ever, in my life, seen them. Ever. Anywhere. As if all this had dropped in fully-formed from a parellel universe somewhere else. You think - how can you miss this? Have I been asleep? not paying attention? Did I see them and my brain has been wiped afterwards?

Then it occured to me - I live in Manchester-ish. Is it the case that these have only ever been screened in London and possibly the wider south-east? If so... how the hell can they then be called Britain's favourite Christmas TV advert, if the largest part of Britain never saw them? Another case, as tvtropes puts it, of "Britain is Only London"?

Or else.... I really have crossed into a parellel universe....

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I live in the South East and have never heard of them either.
 
Never seen those in Scotland either - as it seems to be for Heathrow I'd assume it was targeted to that general area. It's like those R Whyte Lemonade and Carling black label adds I've seen showcased in these sorts of shows - up until I think the early 2000's these weren't sold in Scotland, so we didn't get the adds.
Other big "British" brands we didn't have here until "relatively" recently - Sainsbury (now everywhere here) and WH Smith (took over the John Menzies shops here and basically popped up over night as a result).
Oh and we now have 7 Waitrose stores in Scotland (one very near me).
I recall as a kid when holidaying in Ayrshire you could have the fun of being able to pick up not just STV but Ulster and sometimes Border TV - so you got to see the different adds for the different areas -and occasionaly get to see the "big" film that was on "except for viewers in Scotland"
 
To be fair, London and the South East don't get many ads for whippet unction and the like. Seriously though, it was explained years ago that a lot of these award winning ads were only designed to be shown in cinemas and not TV.
 
escargot said:
I have an old Observer magazine, late '80s I think, kept for a particular article, which features a reader's letter grumbling about some Observer series of pieces about England actually referring only to London! :chuckle:
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Some things never change.
 
AgProv said:
Probably explicable in context. But.
Not an AdTurd as such, but I was watching Channel Five earlier tonight (Well. sometimes you have to, I don't make a habit of it) and the show was "Britain's Best Christmas Adverts". All the familiar ones, yes, and some obscure gems from the archives like Twink Home Perms from the 1950's. ("look your very best for your man at Christmas") Most of it was familiar and fun. But for about 15 minutes presenter Julian Clary, for it was he, went off on a tangent about something I'd honestly never, ever, seen before and had no idea existed. This series of adverts has apparently been running every Christmas for four years and have been a huge, huge, hit, earning big awards from ad industry luvvies and big prizes for creative excellence. But I just do not remember ever having seen them, and this is not a thing you'd forget - cuddly cute teddy bears called the Bair family flying into Heathrow every year for a family reunion, the ads morphing into a year-upon-year mini soap opera. Full of schmaltz and schlock, as you might expect in December, but basically inoffensive. It was just that... I'd honestly never, ever, in my life, seen them. Ever. Anywhere. As if all this had dropped in fully-formed from a parellel universe somewhere else. You think - how can you miss this? Have I been asleep? not paying attention? Did I see them and my brain has been wiped afterwards?

Then it occured to me - I live in Manchester-ish. Is it the case that these have only ever been screened in London and possibly the wider south-east? If so... how the hell can they then be called Britain's favourite Christmas TV advert, if the largest part of Britain never saw them? Another case, as tvtropes puts it, of "Britain is Only London"?

Or else.... I really have crossed into a parellel universe....

Click to expand...

Add me and Mr Zebra to list of people who have never seen this advert. (We don't watch adverts anymore, mind you, we record things and fast-forward them, but even when fast-forwarding you still get an idea of the adverts and this just has never been one we've been aware of).

We have lived in East and central England as well as our current residence* in Scotland, and don't remember them at all. The adverts that is.


*well that sounded posher than I intended.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Very few people. I stopped going because of other people and their annoying habits.
Also, going on my own has limited appeal.
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Going to a cinema on your own is one of life's little pleasures. You don't have to talk to anyone, explain a plot, etc - you can order another glass of wine without being frowned upon, then go out, look what else is on, and then do it all over again.
 
Naughty_Felid said:
Going to a cinema on your own is one of life's little pleasures. You don't have to talk to anyone, explain a plot, etc - you can order another glass of wine without being frowned upon, then go out, look what else is on, and then do it all over again.
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I used to do that. Cheaper not to go out to the cinema, with their inflated prices.
A Blu-Ray can be cheaper than that.
 
Mythopoeika said:
I used to do that. Cheaper not to go out to the cinema, with their inflated prices.
A Blu-Ray can be cheaper than that.
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That's our point of view nowadays. The cost of the tickets, let alone the snacks/drinks to go along with, is so high and for us there just isn't a film worth paying that sort of money for nowadays, not when you can buy some drinks and snacks from the supermarket for a fraction of the cost, go back to the comfort of your own home and sit with the dogs and watch a good film on DVD...


Naughty_Felid said:
Yeah but the big screen - sometimes you need to just see something on the big screen.
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... but, saying that, I agree that yeah some films are definitely better on the cinema screen. Such as the X-Files Fight The Future, we saw that twice in the cinema when it came out! Can't beat the sort of 3D effect you get on those screens.

I'd love a cinema where we could go and watch old films. I'd pay the money for that.

:)
 
I only ever go to the cinema for Star Wars. So I've had a few long gaps in visits, although it went a but mental a few years ago. Two visits in a year!
 
Back in the 80s I'd go to the dollar shows on weeknights. They charged a buck to watch whatever was playing if you got there at 5:00 pm. That's where I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark the first time. I had stopped by on the way to get a Big Mac, some fries, and I had a can of Coke with me. You had to be wearing the right kind of jacket to pull that off, but it saved quite a bit of cash. Anyway, I started on my dinner while the previews were playing. When the opening scene of Raiders was done, I found myself sitting on the edge of the seat, Big Mac in hand with one bite out of it. I thought, well this is off to a hell of a start! I watched it a couple more times while it was still there, but the last time it was a mess because the film was dirty, full of haphazard splices with bits missing, and poor sound. They got their money's worth out of that copy, for sure.

The last movie I recall seeing in a commercial theater was the first Star Trek reboot. By then the experience had been ruined by rude idiots, their stupid phones, their idiot spawn, and about two dozen previews for shit we would pay to not have to sit through. It's a shame, because the experience can be amazing.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Very few people. I stopped going because of other people and their annoying habits.
Also, going on my own has limited appeal.
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As soon as cinemas started looking like supermarkets and then mobile phones became affordable, it was game over for anyone hoping to watch an uninterrupted film. I remember reading a news report from America about 20 years ago, some woman decided to answer a phone call during a show, someone else tapped her on the shoulder to ask her/tell her to shut up, tempers flared on both sides so she was able to successfully sue the individual on the grounds of 'assault'.
 
I was put off cinema when they closed the box office, forcing you to buy tickets at the concessions stands. The waiting time was increased by people ordering snacks as well as tickets. I never really enjoyed the 3D experience all that much either as the glasses darken and desaturate the picture. Plus the soundtrack has increased by a few decibels in the music and action sequence but dialogue is sometimes muffled and hard to make out. Shame really, I used to love cinema and literally went to see everything. Now I buy blu rays when they’re released, open a bottle of wine and enjoy the movie watching experience at home.
 
Analogue Boy said:
I was put off cinema when they closed the box office, forcing you to buy tickets at the concessions stands. The waiting time was increased by people ordering snacks as well as tickets. I never really enjoyed the 3D experience all that much either as the glasses darken and desaturate the picture. Plus the soundtrack has increased by a few decibels in the music and action sequence but dialogue is sometimes muffled and hard to make out. Shame really, I used to love cinema and literally went to see everything. Now I buy blu rays when they’re released, open a bottle of wine and enjoy the movie watching experience at home.
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I remember going to watch Octopussy .. and KRULL which I think was in 3D ... and you got local shops adverts on the big screen, then you'd get a short film of some sorts, probably a cartoon before the main feature then the curtains close and the lights go up .. the woman with the ice cream tray stood in the middle, you get your ice cream then the lights go down and the curtain opens again and the film starts .. then it stops at a good bit, the curtain closes again, the lights go up again and she's back! .. and you look save your wooden propeller shaped ice cream scoop just in case you might need it one day or you dump it in the ashtray attached to the back of the seat. Then you all talk about the film afterwards on the way out because the internet hasn't been invented yet.
 
Swifty said:
I remember going to watch Octopussy .. and KRULL which I think was in 3D ... and you got local shops adverts on the big screen, then you'd get a short film of some sorts, probably a cartoon before the main feature then the curtains close and the lights go up .. the woman with the ice cream tray stood in the middle, you get your ice cream then the lights go down and the curtain opens again and the film starts .. then it stops at a good bit, the curtain closes again, the lights go up again and she's back! .. and you look save your wooden propeller shaped ice cream scoop just in case you might need it one day or you dump it in the ashtray attached to the back of the seat. Then you all talk about the film afterwards on the way out because the internet hasn't been invented yet.
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Yes! It was extra special back then, with the fancy curtains opening and closing.
 
I don't remember anything like that, but it sounds good!

Then again the first time I went to a cinema was with the then-future Mr Zebra in the early-mid 90s, so I guess things had changed by then. In my world-view there's always been snacks and drinks to buy in the foyer before going in, and never anyone inside the seating bit selling food, because that's how I've always experienced it.

Mr Zebra (whom I've just asked) first went roughly 1980-ish but he doesn't remember exactly what it was like. He does tell me there was ice cream, and one time it was chocolate ice cream with a chocolate coating (so like a choc ice but chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla).

:)
 
Mythopoeika said:
Yes! It was extra special back then, with the fancy curtains opening and closing.
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Cigarette smoke everywhere .. teenagers snogging on the back row .. Mothers marching there children out if there was nipples on screen .. fake red velvet seating and gold colour painted plaster of paris stuff on the walls and staff with torches telling off people .
 
I recall as a kid watching a film with my family at the ABC cinema in Preston, which was huge.

Sitting a few rows in front of us was an Asian family. A ale had a huge 1970's film recording device on his shoulder and was recording the film as it was playing.

Until he was thrown out that is.
 
I was more or less brought up in the local cinema. I got on really well with the Manageress and usually spent saturday afternoons seeing all the films no matter the rating. More often than not, I’d be the only one in there and the ice cream lady would come in and shout ‘Do you want anything?’. I’d just say ‘No thanks, just show the film’.
 
Swifty said:
I remember going to watch Octopussy .. and KRULL which I think was in 3D ... and you got local shops adverts on the big screen, then you'd get a short film of some sorts, probably a cartoon before the main feature then the curtains close and the lights go up .. the woman with the ice cream tray stood in the middle, you get your ice cream then the lights go down and the curtain opens again and the film starts .. then it stops at a good bit, the curtain closes again, the lights go up again and she's back! .. and you look save your wooden propeller shaped ice cream scoop just in case you might need it one day or you dump it in the ashtray attached to the back of the seat. Then you all talk about the film afterwards on the way out because the internet hasn't been invented yet.
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An intermission in the middle of the film so they could sell you more ice cream? I’d be taking my custom elsewhere!

I’m in the group of no longer going because it’s not a pleasurable experience, get it on blu Ray when it comes.
 
gordonrutter said:
An intermission in the middle of the film so they could sell you more ice cream? I’d be taking my custom elsewhere!

I’m in the group of no longer going because it’s not a pleasurable experience, get it on blu Ray when it comes.
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Fair enough, they tried selling cocaine first but we kept beating the woman up .. it was the 70's so that was OK though ..
 
I've got one for y'all. A 50-plus year false memory that was just resolved today.
When I was a child of 5 or 6, a cousin of mine had a Pink Floyd album called Piper at the Gates of Dawn. I LOVED that thing, and would rush to the record player the minute I got to her house and beg her to play it. My favorite song on the album was called Free Four. I distinctly remember my mother being disturbed by me skipping about the house blissfully chirping "For you are the angel of death
And I am the dead man's son" etc.
Flash forward to this morning . I was talking on the phone to my son, and the conversation turned to music and eventually to Pink Floyd. I told him about the album and song I had loved so as a child, and he said "Ma, that song was on Obscured by clouds and you'd have been like 10 or something'
But when I was 10, neither my cousin nor I would have lived in the same houses where I remember this all happening. It's a weird feeling.
 
Sally said:
I've got one for y'all. A 50-plus year false memory that was just resolved today.
When I was a child of 5 or 6, a cousin of mine had a Pink Floyd album called Piper at the Gates of Dawn. I LOVED that thing, and would rush to the record player the minute I got to her house and beg her to play it. My favorite song on the album was called Free Four. I distinctly remember my mother being disturbed by me skipping about the house blissfully chirping "For you are the angel of death
And I am the dead man's son" etc.
Flash forward to this morning . I was talking on the phone to my son, and the conversation turned to music and eventually to Pink Floyd. I told him about the album and song I had loved so as a child, and he said "Ma, that song was on Obscured by clouds and you'd have been like 10 or something'
But when I was 10, neither my cousin nor I would have lived in the same houses where I remember this all happening. It's a weird feeling.
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Might have been a different song in a different house then. Ask your cousin about it.
 
I am old enough to remember the dying days of the super-cinemas, just before they were carved-up into smaller units, only to be boarded-up, when the multiplexes arrived. The gold-leaf had been nicotined-over and the lighting simplified; the organs had been emasculated but the moth-eaten gauze curtains were usually still in place to give the censors' card the promise of a steamed-up bathroom. Ladies still sold choc-ices and - I'm sorry to say - cigarettes, in the intermissions. The National Anthem was usually reserved for the end of the final showing of the day but few hung around for it; the custom of standing was understood but rarely observed.

The Stockport Plaza offered the full, refurbished super-cinema experience with untarnished gold-leaf and volunteer staff. It's a joy to watch the old organ rise up, under the expert fingers of a master! :nods:
 
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