Roderick Howard Allen (16 May 1929 – 22 August 2007) was a British advertising executive who wrote many well known advertising

slogans A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan or a political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, or other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the pu ...

and

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s used in the United Kingdom. He was nicknamed the "jingle king". Allen was born in

Consett Consett is a town in the County Durham (district), County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of County Durham, Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in ...

, County Durham and worked in advertising from the age of 17. His career was only interrupted by

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

. In 1966, Allen joined Mike Brady and Peter Marsh to co-found the advertising agency Allen, Brady and Marsh, which was one of the five largest agencies in the UK during the early 1980s until its demise in the late 80s following a take-over by another ad agency, Lowe.

Famous slogans

*''I'm a secret lemonade drinker'' – R. White's Lemonade *''the listening bank'' –

Midland Bank Midland Bank plc was one of the Big Four (banks)#United Kingdom, Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birming ...

*''the wonder of Woolies'' – Woolworths *''Harp stays sharp'' –

Harp Lager Harp Lager is an Irish lager created in 1960. Since 2013, it has been produced by the Guinness Brewery in Dublin. Prior to this, it was produced at the Great Northern Brewery in Dundalk. It is a major lager brand throughout most of Northern Ire ...

*'' Milk's gotta lotta bottle'' – National Dairy Council *'' This is the age of the train'' –

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

*''Triangular honey from triangular bees'' –

Toblerone Toblerone ( , ) is a Swiss chocolate brand owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods Inc, Kraft Foods). Until 2022, it was produced exclusively in Bern, Switzerland, when a smaller, limited part of the portfolio began production i ...

*''power to the people'' – Ever Ready batteries. *''This is luxury you can afford, by Cyril Lord'' – Cyril Lord carpets. * ''Fit the best. Everest.'' – Everest Double Glazing * ''Stella's for the fellas who take their lager strong'' –

Stella Artois Stella Artois ( , ) is a pilsner beer, first brewed in 1926 by Brouwerij Artois in Leuven, Belgium. In its original form, the beer is 5.2 per cent Alcohol by volume, ABV, the country's standard for pilsners. The beer is sold in many EU countrie ...

* ''The pint that thinks it's a quart'' –

Whitbread Whitbread is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742 by Samuel Whitbread in partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell, with premises in L ...

Trophy Bitter

External links

Obituary: ''The Independent''Obituary: ''The Liverpool Daily Post''Guardian article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Rod People from Consett British advertising executives 1929 births 2007 deaths 20th-century British Army personnel Royal Corps of Signals soldiers 20th-century English businesspeople Military personnel from County Durham