Beanz Meanz Heinz winz prize for television's most memorable ad

THE classic baked beans advert "Beanz Meanz Heinz" has been identified as the most memorable television commercial slogan of all time.

A new study into the memorability of television adverts found that those from the 1970s have proved to be more memorable than their modern-day counterparts.

The next most remembered advert was L'Oral's much-used "Because I'm Worth It", followed by "A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play", first aired in 1965 but not used at all these days.

But modern adverts hardly featured at all. The researchers believe this is because so many now rely on visual graphics, style and big budget effects rather than clever catchphrases and snappy slogans.

They found today's audience will have an advert running while they do something else, or switch over during a commercial break, or get their advertising from the internet or even mobile phones.

The trend has seen advertisers turn to celebrities such as Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, for Samsung; comedy, such as Peter Kay for John Smith's beer; special effects, such as Sony sending millions of coloured balls down the hills of San Francisco; or Honda's use of a choir making car sounds.

The research, conducted by advertising agency Vallance Carruthers Coleman Priest (VCCP), found the most remembered advertising jingles are the old ones. It compiled a list of 15 named in replies given by 1,000 adults asked to name their all-time favourite jingles.

Only these 15 were mentioned enough times to be counted, so the study excludes classics such as "Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat", and "Happiness is a Cigar called Hamlet".

Most of the 15 go back decades. Even L'Oral first used "Because I'm Worth It" in 1967, although it was more famously uttered by the pop star Beyonc to David Ginola, the French footballer, in recent years.

Heinz, Mars and L'Oral were all mentioned by more than half of those surveyed, and 50 per cent also named Audi's slogan "Vorsprung durch Technik" and Orange's "The future's bright...".

From the 1970s, adults still recall Pepsi's "lipsmakin' thirstquenchin' acetastin'" tongue-twister, even if they could not accurately remember the whole 30-second line.

The 1970s and earlier seem to be the golden age for jingles and one-liners, with others from American Express, Penguin, Carlsberg and Flake in the list.

The more up-to-date examples which are proving to have staying power include Nike's catchy "Just Do It" motif.

VCCP said adverts shown in the early days of TV advertising when millions more would be watching each of the main channels, saw commercials leave a much more lasting impression. VCCP partner Charles Vallance said: "When TV was a new medium and there was not the proliferation of channels that now exists, advertising slogans created enormous impact.

"The repetition of adverts was high and the viewer had little opportunity to miss them, as there were no remote controls and fast-forwards. Many of the adverts were very successful and long running."

He added: "Now there is just too much general clutter and noise in the ether for advertisers to try and rely on a slogan to create awareness about their products. The consumer is too savvy, too time-poor and too adept at blocking out certain types of messages."

Modern minds suffer, he said, from "cognitive glut", where they are overwhelmed by the quantity of information being thrown at them every day. This is why adverts rely on looking good rather than sounding good - what the industry calls the "visual narrative".

Mr Vallance added: "In the world of advertising, the old adage that 'a picture is worth a thousand words' has never been truer. In a world becoming increasingly saturated with media clutter and the sheer volume of communication, the average person cannot digest the huge number of messages they are bombarded with."

Probably the best slogans in the world

1 Heinz Baked Beans: "Beanz Meanz Heinz" - 53% recall

2 L'Oreal: "Because I'm worth it" - 52%

3 Mars: "A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play" - 51%

4 Orange: "The future's bright, the future's orange" - 50%

5 Audi: "Vorsprung durch technik" - 50%

6 Terry's Chocolate Orange: "They're not Terry's, they're mine" - 47%

7 Carlsberg: "Probably the best lager in the world" - 44%

8 Nike: "Just do it" - 43%

9 Penguin: "P-p-p-pick up a Penguin" - 41%

10 Pepsi: "Lipsmackin', thirstquenchin', acetastin' etc" - 39%

11 American Express: "Don't leave home without it" - 37%

12 R White's lemonade: "I'm a secret lemonade drinker" - 29%

13 Milk Tray: "And all because the lady loves Milk Tray" - 24%

14 Cadbury's Flake: "Only the crumbliest, flakiest chocolate tastes like chocolate never tasted before" - 19%

15 Playtex Bra: "Lifts and separates" - 11%