It shows the ad listed under a section called Monday's newcomers. August 27th was a Friday, so assuming this was a weekly publication, then the first airing of the TV ad would either have been Monday the 23rd or Monday the 30th, suggesting that the comic ads of August 21st marked the start of the campaign.
A 'Simon Milton', a child actor, appeared in a film released in 1968. It seems plausible that this was the same person. In the TV ad, did he go into the Haunted manor, I wonder, or did he content himself with eating a bowl of Sugar Puffs and playing with a Spook figure retrieved from the depths of the cereal packet? I've been unable to find anything about 'Gay Harrison' - unfortunately, her first name has made it challenging to do a meaningful search! Were she and Simon Milton's 'character' companions or was she older and did she play Tilly instead? (And perhaps Winnie as well?) If the former, then that would mean the Tilly artist being uncredited. Is that likely?
A possible explanation for Tilly's (rigid) stare and there being just two credited artists: rather than Tilly being portrayed by an actress in costume, could a prop - a waxwork or dummy figure - have been used instead? A model I have of Elizabeth I based on the Madame Tussaud's waxwork got me thinking - waxworks are really spooky anyway! As for movement, it would have been a simple matter to place it on a wheeled trolley and pull it across the set during filming.
Depicting the Haunted Manor
I wonder where the haunted manor scenes were filmed? The decision about where to film would I think have been firmly in the hands of the production company, AB-Pathe. They were a subsidiary of Associated British Picture Corporation. Fellow subsidiary companies included ABC Cinemas (remember them?), ABC Television Limited (popularly known as ABC Weekend TV serving the Midlands and North England) and Associated British Studios, which owned Elstree Studios, in Borehamwood, where many shows of the time, such as The Avengers and The Saint, as well as classic films, were shot. I assume these studios were the preferred choice for AB-Pathe.
Options:
A real-life location or locations (interior and exterior)? We should look to TV dramas of the time for suitable candidates - one is The Manor Elstree (apt name, previously known as the Edgwarebury Hotel), used e.g. in Randall & Hopkirk (see here and scroll down to about half way) and clearly very convenient for Elstree Studios. The staircase looks suitable (as do other parts of the house for other shots), with space for a suit of armour (and a cat!) in the right place and wooden panelling on the walls, even if the overall look is not quite up to the grandeur of the artwork on the cereal packet. I like the external stone stairs - the balusters are just like those (albeit wooden) ones in the cereal packet artwork - inspiration perhaps?
Was a purpose-built set used? Potentially very expensive for something that would have been shown for 30 seconds at most. Well, this cinema ad for Wall's Sky Ray ice lollies from 1967 shows BBC Dalek props and 2nd Doctor lookalike on a purpose-built Tardis set (maybe the BBC's wasn't up to the big screen in colour!), all shown for just 6 of the 30 seconds of the ad, the rest of which is taken up with lollies,lolly cards and kid with lolly. A possibility then...
Perhaps an existing TV or film studio set was used, although it would be potentially expensive still to assemble, repair or re-decorate as needed. Again, suitable candidates? What about the one used here in the Dr. Who story The Chase from the same year? In fact, as the story was shot at about the same time as the TV ad, the set could have been ready to use. It really looks the part (other than those statues, presumably removable) and as Steve says: two things strike me, first, the stairs, particularly the vertical parts (risers?) are very similar to the image on the Spooks promotion box, in that both are painted to look old and grubby. Second, there is an "Algernon" in nearly the right place, bottom of the stairs on the left(looking up!) So, it would seem highly fitting that this set was also used for the Spooks advert. And David Graham worked on both! I'm not sure, however, as it was shot at the BBC (Riverside Studios): did the BBC hire out their studios and even if they did wouldn't Elstree's resources have surpassed those at the BBC? Stewart has pointed out that the BBC hired props from a company called The Trading Post. Perhaps they also hired sets and could this have been one of them? If so, it could have potentially been available for the Spooks TV ad as well.
Perhaps a painted backdrop or model or matte (based on the packet ) with just the full-scale sections (staircase, gallery etc) that were needed for individual scenes?
For now, I think the most the plausible option is the first, specifically with The Manor Elstree /Edgewarebury Hotel being used for the haunted manor scenes, possibly backed up by elements of option 4, and the nearby Elstree Studios being used for the rest of the commercial.
The director of the ad, Bertram Tryer, was a production designer and art director, according to IMDB. He worked in theatre as well, including a production of Dracula starring Bela Lugosi in the early 1950s, so however it was done, no doubt he put his experience to good use when filming the TV ad!
With David Graham and Barry Gray involved, the soundtrack must have been of a high standard.
With Kim's help, I made contact with David Graham, who said: I wish I could help you, but at a distance of 42 years my memory of working on the commercial is very hazy. Of course with the brilliant Barry Gray's involvement, the Gerry Anderson connection must have been responsible for me doing the voice over.
As Kim pointed out, Graham would have been hard at work on Thunderbirds at the time (as was Gray!), over-shadowing any work on commercials, even this one! Still, it was worth trying and I was grateful for the reply.
As to the 'music': when the story required it, Gray made very effective use of of an electronic instrument called an Ondes Martenot. It is noted for its 'eerie wavering notes', not unlike the theremin in its sound, so presumably this is what he used in the advert.
To get an idea of what this music or musical effects could have sounded like, listen to the Fireball XL5 story The Ghosts of Space brought to my attention by Kim and when I last checked, easily found online. Extensive use is made of the instrument in this story, with it seemingly being used in multiple layers/voices at a time - a complex recording then.
Also of interest is this 1967 TV advert for Luvil washing powder, at around the 25 second mark. Although I can't confirm it, this surely has to be Gray playing the Ondes Martenot and notice too that at this point, both instrument and voice-over are echoing (just as was the case with the Spooks TV ad). The sound here is single-layered, a musical effect rather than music, and I think it would have been perfect for the LS TV advert. The 'underwater army' music that precedes it also sounds like it could be Gray's work. Note there are several variations of this advert from the early 1960s on the HATS website.
Barry Gray had a recording studio at his home, where his Ondes Martenot would have been kept, so his contribution on that instrument was most likely recorded there as was perhaps the voice-over by David Graham. However, the soundtrack would also have needed effects such as ghostly moans, a cat miaowing, thunder, the clock striking, etc. All the components would have needed to be combined and coordinated with the visuals and presumably this was done at another sound studio under someone else's control. Gray's contribution was likely a part (albeit an important one) of the entire soundtrack.
During an age when TV programmes were routinely destroyed once they had come to the end of what was deemed to be their commercial usefulness, what hope for the humble TV advert that filled the spaces between the programmes? Presumably the TV stations wouldn't usually keep them once a promotion had ended. Whether a TV ad has survived the years probably depends on several factors, such as the archiving policies of the advertising agency and manufacturer and stability in ownership of the product and companies involved. Thus many Kellogg's cereal ads of the period, produced by JWT, have survived, while with one exception, no Sugar Puffs TV ads from before 1975 seem to exist any more. That exception is a black and white TV ad from 1968 here, and you can see a late 60s style Sugar Puffs cereal packet at the end as well. It's not tied in to any promotion, so could well have run for years rather than weeks.
Several copies must have been made of the Spooks TV ad for distribution to the regional ITV companies. Is it possible one of these has survived? A couple of black and white TV adverts on 16mm film turned up on eBay in 2012. One was for Scott's Porage Oats and the other was for Capstan cigarettes. I couldn't find these in the resources listed at the bottom of this page, so before their recent appearance, both could have been considered 'lost'.
However unlikely, I'd like to think that somewhere, there is a copy of the Luminous Spooks TV ad that was put to one side rather than in the bin and that one day it will be rediscovered. In the meantime, ANY memories of it will be most welcome!
Companies & Resources:
AB-Pathe: long gone and related in name only to British Pathe, who have no TV ads at all.
Barry Gray archive: 600+ tapes, but I'm told they don't have (the music or effects for) the Spooks TV advert soundtrack! I take a look here in an attempt to understand why the TV ad is missing from it!
The British Film Institute: there are no Sugar Puffs TV ads listed in their archive. I've e-mailed them to check and they have confirmed it is not there.
Erwin Wasey (Erwin Wasey, Ruthrauff & Ryan in full): British subsidiary of a U.S. company, part of Interpublic Group (IPG). Became Wasey Campbell-Ewald, merged in 1983 with Lowe Howard-Spink, now Lowe Partners, also part of IPG. Presumably no chance of the agency's copy of the advert having survived those take-overs and mergers.
The History of Advertising Trust: well worth a visit, but they do not have it.
Honey Monster Foods : the new owners of Sugar Puffs, now called Honey Monster Wheat Puffs. Their website has ads going back only as far as the 1970s. They have told me they do not have the Spooks TV ad.
The National Media Museum: they don't have it either, although they do have some much later Sugar Puffs TV ads.
Quaker: now owned by Pepsico. Not contacted - they've sold the Sugar Puffs brand anyway.
tellyads: a lot of vintage ads are on their site, but not this one. They have confirmed they do not have it.
TV Ark: now gone. Had some great 60s TV ads, but not this one.
UK TV Adverts: now gone. Had a database with references to videos. Also forums/fora (take your pick!). Nothing pre-1970s for Sugar Puffs.
