HHCL (formally Howell Henry Chaldecott Lury and Partners) was an advertising agency based in London. The agency devised campaigns for

Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

, including the '' Orange Man'' commercial in 1991, and ''

St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...

'', for Blackcurrant Tango, in 1997. In 1994, it created the ''

Does exactly what it says on the tin "It does exactly what it says on the tin" was originally an advertising slogan in the United Kingdom, which then became a common idiomatic phrase in that country. It colloquially means that the name of something is an accurate description of its q ...

'' campaign for

Ronseal Ronseal is a British wood stain, paint and Wood preservative, preservative manufacturer, known for the phrase "Does exactly what it says on the tin". The advertising slogan, which was created by agency HHCL, has since entered popular culture. ...

. The firm was voted 'Agency of the Decade' by ''Campaign'' magazine in 2000. After mergers and a name change to United London, the agency closed in the beginning of 2007.

History

Howell Henry Chaldecott Lury & Partners was founded by Rupert Howell, Steve Henry, Axel Chaldecott, Adam Lury and Robin Price and launched on October 17, 1987. HHCL was bought by Chime PLC in October 1997, and merged into the Red Cell Network in January 2002. The HHCL initials were dropped and the agency became United London in January 2006, before being closed down by its owner

WPP Group WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It is the world's largest advertising company, as of 2023. WPP plc owns many companie ...

in the beginning of 2007.

Philosophy

HHCL believed that the quality of a company's communications could lead to a real competitive advantage and produced a book written by Adam Lury: ''Marketing at a Point of Change'' which expounded this view. HHCL regarded themselves as ''professional radicals''—a positioning later applied to the agency as a whole.

Campaigns

In the early nineties, the agency created commercials for

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cassettes using commonly misheard lyrics shot in the style of the video for Subterranean Homesick Blues by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

. HHCL devised a commercial for

in 1991, in which a young man drinks some Tango, and a large orange man then runs up to him and slaps him on the face while two astounded commentators report on the action. The commercial was voted the third best commercial of all time by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. After children began copying the orange man's slap, the commercial was banned and re-shot with the orange man planting a kiss on the Tango drinker. Despite the controversy, The ''Orange Man'' advertising campaign was very successful at raising Tango's sales and profile. In 1994, the agency rebranded the vehicle breakdown service

The Automobile Association AA Limited, trading as The AA, is a British motoring association. Founded in 1905, it provides vehicle insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans, motoring advice, road maps and other services. The association demutualised in 1999 ...

as ''The Fourth Emergency Service'', and was responsible for the line 'It does exactly what it says on the tin' for

. In October 1996, HHCL created the commercial

for Blackcurrant Tango. The commercial was voted one of the 100 best commercials of all time. In 1997, HHCL and the brand consultancy,

Wolff Olins Wolff Olins is a global brand consultancy agency that specialises in corporate identity. It was founded in 1965 in London, where its main office is still based, as well as having offices in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles. It emplo ...

jointly launched the airline, Go. In August 2000,

Time Computer Systems Granville Technology Group Ltd was a British computer retailer and manufacturer based in Simonstone, Lancashire, Simonstone, near Burnley, Lancashire, marketing its products under the brand names ''Time'', ''Tiny Computers, Tiny'', ''Colossus'' ...

handed its advertising account to HHCL, which saw the end of the adverts featuring Leonard Nimoy of ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

''. In 2002, a campaign created by HHCL for Easynet's broadband services showed both male and female bosses punching their employees for wasting company money. The Advertising Standards Authority banned these adverts ruling that they could cause serious or widespread offence, and that they condoned violence and anti-social behaviour.Whitehead, Jennifer (4 December 2002)
"Watchdog rejects humour claims for punching ads"
''campaign''. Retrieved 27 July 2020.

References

External links

United London website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hhcl Marketing companies established in 1987 Companies disestablished in 2007 Defunct companies based in London Defunct marketing companies of the United Kingdom WPP plc Tango (drink)