Clifford the dragon: advert 1 (1985)
Richard Williams animation studios
Technique
Clifford the dragon (not to confuse with the big red dog) is a character created for a series of TV commercials in england in the mid 80's (being for now 3 in total), animated by Russell Hall and written by Paul Chown to promote the Listerine mouthwash as an effective solution to bad breath.
The animation was done for a 1.33:1 aspect ratio television from a Betamax tape transmited for ITV (a broadcast channel), while inheriting the characteristic style of Williams' animation, consisting in depending on the frames themselves to do all kinds of camera movements rather than moving the camera to do the trick.
This commercial would use traditional cel animation resembling a children's book about knights and dragons done with pencils, with each frame having a shaky lineart to have a sensation you are looking at a book illustration moving, with pastel colours with a blank background.
This technique is common inside the studio, especially with commercials, staying away from the cleanliness of big productions or popular animated series from the time to stand out on its own and make animation look more as an expression. Also, this complements with fidelity the simplicity of the premise on the commercial.
Representation
Clifford takes a shot of Listerine to swallow it, even me is confused for that?
This chapter of the commercial series is about Clifford in his hoard with a trapped damsel, having a problem with his breath because of beer, too much food, and tobacco which causes the lady to repel him. That's where he takes a shot from Listerine to get a good impression from the princess.
The commercial almost makes you think it is an average PSA against drugs, but it ends up revealing itself as a marketing campaign to sell mouthwash (funny, isn't it). But still, there were no concerns about this one, because it does not reflect completely the real life; instead, it becomes an exaggeration of it as an effective element in storytelling to tell you why you should choose this brand.
A good contrast of the "before and after" using mouthwash, an effective way to sell your product.
Across my reflection and research I was trying to find the right words to give a concise interpretation of what does a silly dragon that relies on mouthwash represent... and this single phrase gave me answers.
The message of this ad in general is to give an idea of how uncomfortable it feels to have a bad breath, and the relief of getting it clean with a good antiseptic. However, you could ask: doesn't this commercial is telling me that having wrong habits is normal as long I have something to cover my breath?
Well, it can be. Even though the commercial was done in a time where concerns about smoking and alcohol were having a big spot among people's ears, and campaigns against drugs started to get strength given the negative effects to the body and brain, it was still a common practice among adults, and seeing a cartoon with someone smoking was still tolerable, even some would see it as something normal.
Of course, Clifford was done with the same intention as any cartoon character across the years: be not an exemplary role model to society but be an attractive for publicity. This guy has not the best healthy life, he represents a person that does not take in mind his body, and prefers instead a sedentary life without worry. However, it intends to become someone you can identify with because of his intention to be approachable to the princess, his commitment to be presentable for the occasion, despite his careless daily life.
This is my interpretation having in mind that the same studio did a PSA with Superman telling you to never say yes to a cigarette, which is curious in some way, but it tells of how contrasting can be each character directed by William's people.
To add context, in the 80s, the smoking prevalence on England (the country where the commercial would broadcast) was declining gradually as for men as for women, the same with lung cancer mortality, but the rate of both was still persisting. The reason why I show this is because the concerns back then for that one commercial was low because cigarettes were becoming less relevant to address on adults.
That means, the main concern was the younger population (at least at 18 years of age or even the teenagers or children), given that, of course, they can be easily influenced by addictions. This commercial does not try to make the kids smoke, the producers were obviously not looking for them as a target audience, that is why the commercial goes more for a "satire" of unworried adulthood.
This graph shows the smoking prevalence and the lung cancer mortality in england from 1950 to 2000, graph taken from The bmj
This other graph present a 5 year birth cohort of how each generation declines their consume of tobacco, here the ones from the 60's and 70's, they have almost 40% of prevalence at age 18. Graph taken from Online library
Reception
I found this commercial in a blog that compiles commercials from 80's england, being this one commercial the one that calls my attention because of its art style and the simple message that was addressed effectively.
Objectively, the commercial was effective on its premise despite the negative lesson it brings, because in the end, it just wants to sell you mouthwash in the best way possible, appealing to the audience from its time. Its direct, concise and does make the best impression with the best possible scenario.
The commercial is alleged to receive a considerable success in English televisions according to various articles and comments online, being well remembered by people who saw it in the time mostly as children or teenagers, despite having direct depictions of alcohol and cigarettes, but that did not have a great impact for parents.
For today's standards, this commercial is not so repelled by the public, because you know it is a production from its time, but watching it for the first time will get you some questions regarding the twisted message behind it, of how normalized it is to smoke back then.
Despite that, this is not so taken in mind, because the personality of the dragon highlights in everything being remembered by those who saw it.
The commercial has not so much information about how it was made and there not so much reference about some details of its production or how the premise came up, being not forgotten, but being left aside so often.
However, as a (not so) fun fact, Listerine to this day still considers Clifford as part of its history.
References for this research:
Michael Johnson (circa 2011), Clifford the Listerine dragon, November 27th 2024, https://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory/clifford-the-listerine-dragon
Richard Peto (2000), Smoking, smoking cessation, and lung cancer in the UK since 1950: combination of national statistics with two case-control studies, November 27th 2024, https://www.bmj.com/content/321/7257/323
Internet Movie Database, Listerine: Clifford, November 27th 2024, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0356072/?ref_=tt_ov_dr_1
Hand Drawn Animation Notes (2010), British animated ads from the 80's, November 27th 2024, https://hand-drawn-animation.blogspot.com/2010/07/british-animated-ads-of-80s.html
Flooby Nooby (2011), British animated ads from the 80's, November 26th 2024, https://floobynooby.blogspot.com/2011/05/british-animated-ads-of-80s.html?m=1
Magdalena Pazo Breton (2021), Understanding long-term trends in smoking in England, 1972–2019: an age–period–cohort approach, November 28th 2024, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.15696
Kyle O' Bryen (2019), Remembering influential animator Richard Williams: Roger Rabbit, Pink Panther and other ad icons, November 28th 2024, https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/08/19/remembering-influential-animator-richard-williams-roger-rabbit-pink-panther-and
Inkling studios (2010), Richard Williams Listerine "Clifford" 1, November 26th 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=112eGxNW_Do
Things (2016), Listerine advert 1 (Clifford the dragon), November 28th 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrvcFUX3cvs
Listerine, About us, November 28th 2024, https://www.listerine.co.za/about