'I really fancy you': if you grew up in Scotland in the 90s you'll remember these HEBS adverts

Stinx was one of the most successful HEBS adverts. Picture: YouTube.

They might be long gone but the adverts from the 90s and noughties are still well remembered thanks to their catchphrases and pop culture references.

HEBS - or Health Education Board for Scotland, now known as NHS Health Scotland - was tasked with trying to tackle a range of health issues in Scotland which ranged from smoking to alcohol abuse and obesity, with a particular focus on young people.

Although the proportion of young people aged 12-15 who smoke at least one cigarette each week fell steadily from a peak of 14 per cent in 1996 to ten per cent in 2000, smoking among girls remained unchanged over that span.

An NHS paper published in 2000 stated that: "For young people, smoking rates among teenagers have shown little improvement. Teenage pregnancy rates are among the highest in Western Europe and have changed little over the past ten years and the diet of Scottish children remains a cause for concern."

Step in HEBS who, over the course of six years, created some of the most memorable adverts of the time under the 'Just Think About It' campaign. Drawing on popular culture at the time, these are some of the best...

“Should have seen the nick o’ her on Saturday night”

Fans might recognise Lisa from Grange Hill in this advert, which showed the effects of binge drinking and ended with the phrase: “Should have seen the nick o’ her on Saturday night”.

Stinx: 'Why do you keep on running boy?'

This catchy number was created to tackle the problem of smoking among teenage girls, and was an unexpected hit. Sounding like something Britney Spears would sing, the advert proved so popular that the song was released as a single, selling over 10,000 copies and reaching number eight in the Scottish charts in 2001. The success was such that the advert was shown in Ireland and Serbia.

Stinx was one of several anti-smoking adverts created by Scottish marketing agency The Bridge, and the music came from John McLaughlin and Gordon Goudy who worked with the likes of Simple Minds and Victoria Beckham.

History behind memorable Scottish TV adverts

"Sarah, I really fancy you so how about it?"

One of the most memorable catchphrases and another cautionary tale of drinking too much, but this time from a guy's point of view. It features actor Iain Robertson who is at a party with a girl he has liked for some time. But he gets drunk and instead of chatting her up successfully leers: "Hey Sarah, I really fancy you ... so how about it?"

Blue sticks

"That tastes boggin'" another of HEBS's catchphrases that caught on at the time, and a powerful way to try and get people to stop smoking. The cartoon shows a girl who is asked to try a blue stick, which everyone else is eating despite the fact they taste horrible and rot the body. She points out that they "taste boggin’".

Split screen (heroin)

An anti-drugs campaign, this simple yet effective advert showed the difference of a choice to take heroin against the chance to say no.

Mysteries of the universe

Another anti-smoking advert in which an alien is investigating the habit of the 'smoking humanoids of planet earth'. Smoking damages the body and decreases the chance of finding a mate, which is what makes it a mystery of the universe.

In 2003 HEBS merged with Public Health Institute of Scotland to create NHS Health Scotland and the budget for adverts like these all but disappeared. But what was their lasting effect? After the success of Stinx, statistics also showed that 90 per cent of teenagers admitted that the advertisement “made them think about their health”.

Recent reports show that millenials drink and smoke less than Generation X, with official figures showing 59,767 people sought to quit smoking in 2016/17, the lowest since records started. Vaping is also on the rise, as is drinking less or not at all.