The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

milk company Unigate produced a series of TV advertisements in the 1970s featuring characters called the Humphreys. The Humphreys were milk thieves whose only visible presence was a red-and-white striped straw with which to suck up the milk. TV personalities of the time, including

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and

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, featured in the adverts; but the campaign is best known for the slogan: "Watch out, watch out—there's a Humphrey about!" written and sung by Mike Batt. A merchandising campaign accompanied the adverts; and the Humphrey-themed mugs, milk bottles, and straws are now collectors' items. The campaign was devised by John Webster of the

Boase Massimi Pollitt Boase Massimi Pollitt (BMP) was a British advertising agency which operated between 1968 and 2004 before being renamed as DDB London. It was purchased in 1989 by the US marketing services conglomerate Omnicom. Its lineage can be directly traced ...

advertising agency.

Celebrities featuring in the ''Humphrey'' ads

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Several campaign stickers were produced, including: * "Watch Out, Watch Out, There's a Humphrey About", featuring two red-and-white striped straws projecting from a pocket * "Watch Out for the Humphrey Patrol", featuring a row of the tops of thirteen red and white striped straws * "Drink it Quick, Humphreys are Slick", featuring a red-and-white striped straw projecting from a partially drunk glass of milk. Three different full sticker sheets can be seen online.

References

External links

UK TV Commercials page
featuring the lyrics to the ''Humphrey'' song. Food advertising characters Male characters in advertising Fictional thieves 1970s in the United Kingdom Dairy marketing {{Advertising-stub