Post by Simon Derungs

This 1989 ad for Hamlet Cigars was part of the famous long-running campaign created by CDP. “Free Kick” was written by Andrew Sholl and Garry Horner, directed by Graham Rose, who shot several ads for the brand, including the legendary 1987 “Photo Booth” ad starring Gregor Fisher. Amusingly, the “Free Kick” ad was filmed at the home ground of Dulwich Hamlet Football Club in South London. It won a Gold Award at the British Television Advertising Awards. A little history… By the time tobacco advertising on TV was banned in 1991, Hamlet had run almost 100 commercials, all based on an incredibly simple idea, executed brilliantly each time. The “Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet” campaign was originally conceived in 1964 by the Collett Dickenson Pearce (CDP) creative team of Tim Warriner and Roy Carruthers. The story goes that whilst working on the brief for a small cigar, Warriner and Carruthers got caught in the rain on the way to the pub and sought refuge on the upper deck of a London bus. Out of the wet, they were having a smoke (it was the 60s), when the bus passed a poster of Shultz cartoon character Charlie Brown with a caption that began ‘Happiness is…’. Warriner quipped that “Happiness is a dry cigarette on the top deck of a 134 bus”. By the end of their journey they had the line ‘Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet’. Colin Millward (CDP Creative Director) oversaw the campaign and chose the music - Jacques Loussier’s jazz arrangement of Bach’s Air on the G String. #advertising #FIFAWorldCup #WorldCup2026

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