- Product/Brand - National Express
- Spot - Way To Go
- Song Title - Silver Lady
- Composer - Macaulay, Stephens
- Publisher - Universal
- Artist - DAvid Soul
- Record Co - Smith & Co
- Music Supervisor - The Sync Agency
- Ad Agency - Isobel
- Creative - Rob Fletcher, Dave Alexander
- Film Company - HSI London
- Film Director - Olly Williams
- Air Date - 14/06/14
It is easy to forget how big a star David Soul was in the late 1970s. Back in a day when talent shows and cooking contests were nowhere to be seen in the Saturday night schedules, Britain’s TV bosses relied upon US cop-cum-buddy dramas to attract family audiences and boost ratings.
Few proved more popular or iconic than BBC 1’s Starsky And Hutch. Featuring Soul in one of its two leading roles, the series ran for four years during which time he also developed a successful career as a pop singer.
The good looks may have faded and, since his heyday, the erstwhile housewives’ pinup has clearly piled on the pounds. But the old charisma remains undiminished in this National Express coaches spot where our man appears as a tongue-in-cheek bus driver miming to his 1977 Number One hit Silver Lady.
National Express hopes that this campaign will update the public’s view of coach travel and reposition it as a good time brand associated with holidays and day trips.
Given that must also mean appealing to a younger and cooler customer, the choice of David Soul as brand ambassador, however post-ironic, is an odd one. But, hey, it might just work.
