#sykes the dog

[partywithponies]

The way I can see like 2 seconds of footage of a dog in a late 00s film and instantly be like "Sykes?". And then look it up and be right every time.

[squideo]

Advert Alchemy: Thinkbox’s Trick

In this series, Squideo has examined the best ways to turn advertising content into gold. Now that we’ve broken down the eight key ingredients, it’s time to dive deep into some examples of stellar advertising. This week, the advert in question was picked by Squideo’s Video Producer, Lesley Ovington.

When asked why this Thinkbox advert had become her favourite, Lesley said: “I love the entire series with Harvey because it’s so funny. I also had a Jack Russell Terrier growing up, and these adverts always reminded me of him. The entire series is great but the first one, Every Home Needs a Harvey, remains the best.”

101 Thinkbox

Thinkbox is unlike other companies analysed in this series, as it’s a marketing body for commercial television in the United Kingdom. Since 2005, Thinkbox has existed to manage the advertising for British TV channels and help businesses marketing on these networks meet their marketing objectives.

It’s shareholders are four major UK television networks: Channel 4, ITV, Sky Media and UKTV. As the trade body for these hugely popular networks, Thinkbox has needed to think outside the box when enticing businesses to advertise. All of these channels have hugely successful shows linked to them, and the advertising produced by Thinkbox had to match the creative energy of its shareholders.

Raining Cats and Thinkbox

Made with Red Brick Road, the advertising agency behind the iconic ‘Every Little Helps’ Tesco slogan, Thinkbox aired its Every Home Needs a Harvey advert in 2010 – five years after the trade body was created and was still relatively unknown to the general public. Every Home Needs a Harvey was only their second television advert ever; the first also made by Red Brick Road. According to the agency, the brief from Thinkbox was to educate media planners and marketing directors about the power of TV advertising.

“‘Harvey’ was born – a resourceful, talented dog, who uses TV to tell stories and to persuade. His first TV outing, created by us in 2010, was voted Ad of the Year by ITV1 viewers. TV ad revenues reached a record £5bn in 2014, continuing 5 years of successive growth.”

Television has seen a lot of competition in recent years as an advertising destination, especially as more viewers move away from television to advert-free streaming platforms. Comparatively cheaper adverts can also be run on social media, with algorithms used to ensure it ends up in front of the ideal demographic for your product. As Red Brick Road proves, however, revenue can still be generated from television adverts. Businesses invested £1.2 billion GBP in television advertising in 2021, a 42% increase in spending compared to 2020. With the cost-of-living crisis forcing consumers to unsubscribe from costly streaming services, this revenue may grow further as viewers return to public networks like Channel 4 and ITV.

Thinkbox & Me

ITV1 viewers named Every Home Needs a Harvey Ad of the Year in 2010, and Red Brick Road went on to produce two additional Harvey adverts for Thinkbox between 2010 and 2014. The advert was clearly popular when it aired, but that was thirteen years ago. What was it about this advert that stuck in the memories of so many people?

Super Sell

Show don’t tell. That’s what Thinkbox accomplished by running Every Home Needs a Harvey. What better way to demonstrate the power of advertising than to create an advert about advertising. In the advert, Harvey presents a video to his potential adopters which sells the idea of choosing him amongst the line up of rescue dogs. The other dogs look cute, but the video shows everything else Harvey can offer.

To marketers watching the advert, it also showed what television marketing still had to offer. Times have changed, and mass public adverts are no longer constrained to intermission breaks, newspapers and billboards. As we explored in Advert Alchemy: The Location, modern marketers have an overwhelming choice of advertising destinations from social media to video games to eggs (that’s not a typo, CBS put adverts on eggs in 2006, go read the blog if you haven’t already). But television adverts haven’t been chased off the stage, advertisers just need to be more creative to attract attention away from phone screens.

Heavenly Harvey

The star of the advert, Harvey, was played by Sykes, a dog actor who appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Young Victoria and Doctor Who, as well as other notable films and television shows. In the year of his debut advert, he also acted in a John Smith’s Brewery advert alongside Peter Kay.

In the wake of the advert, Sykes’ Facebook page had 11,600 friends and he was getting offers to open pet shops around the country. Not bad for a rescue dog. He eventually retired in 2016 after going deaf, ending Thinkbox’s Harvey adverts in the process. Because who could follow such a good boy?

Monumental Music

Set to the 1974 song You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet by Canadian rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, the audience – like Harvey’s potential adopters – are quickly hooked into watching the advert. Like Cadbury’s Gorilla advert, the choice of such a popular song cannot be underestimated in the success of this advert.

The song peaked at number 2 in the UK singles charts the year of its release, beaten to the top by a Christmas song (Lonely This Christmas, Mud), which surprised the band who had been reluctant to release the song. You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet was introduced to a new generation in the mid-2000s thanks to one of Thinkbox’s shareholders: ITV. The network used the song for several years during its coverage of Formula One grand prix races, which reignited sales of this insanely catchy single thirty years after its release.

Content Worth Gold

What do you think? What made Thinkbox’s Every Home Needs a Harvey advert so successful? Watch the full advert below and let us know in the comments.

[loz37]

Period drama week 2023-

Lady Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith), the absolute queen of Downton Abbey. What more can be said?

Best line: I'm a woman Mary, I can be as contrary as I choose.

Day 6: Favourite characters.

William Buxton (Tom Hiddleston), Cranfords resident dog dad. Have to give a shout out to Sykes, Hiddles may have been my teenage crush but he will forever be my favourite actor RIP.

Best trait: Hopeless romantic.

Elizabeth Butler (Charlie Murphy) she has it all talent to sing, brains to train as a doctor, born into money yet has a heart for those "beneath" her. Truly embodies the spirit of Rebellion, I wish she was in the second series or at least had more than that one line mention.

Best feat: Joined the Easter rising faught and healed, all while looking stunning in her wedding dress.

This is in no particular order appart from definitely number 1.

Best line: Wouldn't dream of it *sassiest head wobble known to mankind*

Captain Declan Fraser (Frank Blake), Sanditon season twos real heartthrob. Them eyes you could swim in with the sarcastic smile, why did any of the ladies look at anyone else? Heroic, intelligent, dry sense of humour and sensitive to boot. Austinesque swoonwodthyness at its peak.

Abigail Hill (Emma Stone), so pure yet so evil, no wonder she is The Favourite. Amazing characterisation, still can't figure out if I love or loath her but I'm here for it.

Greatest feat: Changes the course of a war whilst holding the position of a maid.

Benadict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson). If Colin is the labrador of the family, Benadict is the cat. Appreciative of the finer things in life, values aesthetics, is willing to play by his own rules and is very loving to his family (I especially love his relationship with Eloise, he doesn't understand her struggles but he still wants to listen and share a cheeky cig).

Best line: Poetry is the art of revealing precious truth with words.

[kissandships]

How did they not bust out laughing?

[fancyhats-and-fennelsbuds]

Oh no Padraic, from the Bi-Queer Polycule-d family member you instantly deyassificated into the cringe uncle

This wholly started from this drawing

Also i must say the second panel came to my mind after that scene from Ice Age with Manny menacingly asking Sid to pooopy check the baby

[onemillionfurries]

Look at my boy Syke

I love him

[the-gentler-gamester]

I am doggo

[idontliketomatoesleavemealone]

small Ben. ..

[mumble-muse]

midsomer murders is so wild. one sec you're watching a man get run over by a tank. the next a touching moment by the grave of a character killed off between seasons (i.e. the dog)

[big-cat-s]

[emkini]

Sketching out pieces I care about and have big plans for sucks so bad because a) i can’t play fast and loose with anatomy/fabric folds/what have you and b) the moment I start caring about something is the moment my artistic ability takes a nosedive

[muses-of-the-memory]

Happy 36th Anniversary, Oliver and Company

Today is the 36th anniversary of...

Oliver and Company!

Once upon a time in New York City,

Oliver was a little cat trying to survive, until he met Dodger and his group, Rita, Francis, Einstein, and Tito becoming part of the gang with Fagin trying to pay his debt to Sykes.

Later on, he was adopted by Jenny, until she was kidnapped by Sykes.

There, Oliver and the gang saved Jenny from Sykes and the little kitty stayed with Jenny.

As this film's anniversary was today, I always think of the RPs I done with @youngkopa when he was playing his Oliver character.

So now, i too will playing the cast of Oliver and Company.

[fancyhats-and-fennelsbuds]

"Will you help him, the little pilot?"

*The faves getting zapped by "Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs beam"* Specks of life, sadness and soul-wretching analysis about the self, will ensue.

Our heroes pack it's composed by: Helga: German Shepherd Clayton: Pointer Sykes: (maybe a bigger dog breed would have been more suited, but I couldn't help but have fun with the more predictable choice) Dobermann Pincher Rourke: Rottweiler

Bursts of creative madness comes in the most unexpected crossovers mmm

[hannahpixiesnowdomsykooo]

[toonfinatic]

My autism brain made a connection that the main villain from Oliver and Company who owns dobermans is named Bill Sykes and that there's a doberman in Silver Fang named Bill. This would be a horrible crossover

[seaslugfanclub]

bestie, beloved mutual, Neptune, I have for real been getting hit on at work by creepy older men and sometimes women multiple times a day, so I was wondering if you could do the more romantically inclined villains witnessing y/n having to deal with several of these people within a short amount of time? You could do any writing style that comes to mind, this is just my way of coping :D ily!!(platonic)

{if this is out of your comfort zone, please message me and kill me :)}

Omg I am so sorry you have to deal with that, as someone who’s had the same experience, I totally understand your frustration. Hang in there pookie ❤️

Villains reaction to (Y/N) being creeped on

TW: old man being creepy/harassment (stay safe everyone)

—————————————

During their time at Disney Parks, the Villain’s realized they aren’t the most evil people there

There was this older park attendant working in the same branch as (Y/N) and of course, in typical creep fashion he. would. not. leave. (Y/N). alone.

When they clock in for work “Good Morning (Y/N), I was thinking about you last night.”

During (Y/N)’s lunch break, he’d try to sit across from them. “I saw some kid spill her drink all over you, I have an extra shirt in my locker if you’d like to come with me and get it.”

God, even when they’re both supervising interactions with the Villains “I noticed that new Mickey Mouse pin on your chest, I should call you ‘my little Disney girl’”

All of this was enough for the Villains to notice, and if they’re existence wasn’t dependent on Disney, they would’ve flayed this guy the moment he made eye contact with (Y/N)

Each Villain has seen at least one instance of (Y/N)’s coworker hitting on them, and they all have their own idea of how to deal with the creep

Hades wants to tie the creep to the top of the magic castle and let the seagulls eat his liver

Maleficent is shining up her collection of medieval torture devices

Frollo wants him flogged

Facilier is currently sewing up a voodoo doll, all he needs is some of the old man’s hair

Scar is scheming ways to make his hyenas mauling the man look like an accident

Clayton, Gaston, and Sykes just want to shoot the guy

But for now everyone makes sure that (Y/N) isn’t alone with the guy, something (Y/N) appreciates more than anything

When (Y/N) come teary eyed to the Villains, you know damn well they’re gonna be treated like royalty.

Hook cooks the their favorite meal as Hades brings his best jokes to take their mind off being harassed

Cruella actually understands what (Y/N)s going through, having been a female in the male dominated fashion industry during the 50’s

“Chin up now dear, don’t let some man-thing get to you. Heavens know I had my fare share of degenerates when I started out my illustrious career!”

Even though they can’t physically touch the creep, it’s not a surprise that the man eventually disappeared quit

Something about a series of unfortunate circumstances that coincidentally happed in progression that lead him to have a mental breakdown and leave on short notice

When news of the creeps resignation, all the villains were like:

There are only two reasons the Villains could get along. 1. It’s for (Y/N) 2. The destruction of someone’s life.

(Y/N) has scary dog privileges, but the scary dogs are middle aged magicians

—————————————

Hope you enjoyed! Try not to let those old creeps get you down, they’re miserable folks who don’t deserve the time of day! (And for real a man called me his ‘little Disney girl’ when he noticed my Disney pin…. I’m 20..)