ARKWRIGHT and Granville, Del Boy and Rodney, Arthur Daley and Terry McCann – double acts that, in theory, would form the most incohesive partnership. But surprisingly, when brought to life, they blend together like a refreshing cocktail and become a huge success.
Take a beautiful, well-spoken, elegant, knowledgeable lady. Her ideal match, in theory, is likely to be a well-educated, high-flying gent. The Cinzano adverts from the 70s and 80s rubbished that theory and the result was fun, laughter and long-lasting memories. Joan Collins and Leonard Rossiter proved that elegance, beauty and intelligence blends beautifully with a few shots of brash, a couple squirts of ignorance and finished off with a slice of clumsiness.
The adverts
The theme to the adverts was Leonard pretending to be a knowledgeable, well-travelled gent and Joan playing the elegant, classy lady. In slapstick comedy style, Joan usually ended up getting soaked with a glass of Cinzano!
Probably the most remembered is the flight advert where both are sipping a glass of Cinzano and singing its praises – ‘Ohh can’t you just smell those Italian wines, suffused with herbs and spices from four continents.’ Leonard accidentally and unknowingly hits Joan’s seat reclining button, sending her into the horizontal position and the drink onto her chest! His comment to her sudden change in seat position is “Getting your head down sweetie? Jolly good idea!“
The perfect cocktail
Joan, Leonard and Cinzano – the trio that gave us elegance, beauty, silliness and laughter. Scribbled down on paper, it looks like a mishmash of a threesome with thoughts of no chance! On a practical level, tossed in a shaker and mixed together, we have an unforgettable, perfectly blended cocktail.
The Milk Tray Man, mouthfuls of Angel Delight, smashing Smash Hits magazine, splashing it all over with Brut aftershave, World of Sport or Grandstand? A fat wallet or your flexible friend the Access Card? Could you survive a term at Grange Hill? Nostalgia with enough clout to send you flying back to the 80s and 70s in the hardback book Section N Underpass. Click image below to get the rundown:
