The Babycham television commercials of 1957 made media history by becoming the very first advertisements for an alcoholic beverage broadcast on ITV Britain’s new commercial television channel.
Whilst Babycham was formulated by Francis Showering these groundbreaking advertisements which transformed the UK drinking landscape were dreamed up by Jack Showering, his brother. Jack recognised the immense potential of the newly launched ITV network to market directly to a demographic completely ignored by traditional pubs; women.
The commercials debuted the classic catchphrase, "I'd Love a Babycham,” which was specifically crafted to give women a confident, socially acceptable line to use when ordering a drink at a pub counter. Prior women ordering directly in a British pub was not readily accepted.
The adverts leaned heavily into the tagline, "The Babycham bottle fills a champagne glass”. This positioning brilliantly packaged an affordable, sweet perry as a glamorous, upper-class luxury experience. And cemented further in the 1970s by starring actor Patrick Mower, the British heartthrob in the TV advertising. #perry #alcoholicdrink
