| Shake 'n' vac | |
|---|---|
| Product | Shake 'n' vac |
| Agency | S. C. Johnson & Son |
| Starring | Jenny Logan |
| Music by | 1950's rock and roll style |
| Release date(s) | 1980 |
| Running time | 30 seconds |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Shake 'n' Vac is a powdered carpet freshener. The powder is shaken onto the carpet before vacuuming. It is currently marketed and sold in the United Kingdom by S. C. Johnson & Son.[1] The product became well known due to its famous TV commercial during the 1980s, with the advert being voted as one of the most popular TV adverts in Britain.[2]
The product, still available as of today,[3] is primarily remembered for its iconic Dancing Woman TV advert shown until 1989. There has been some controversy over when the advert was first aired. The 100 Greatest TV Adverts programme stated that the ad was first broadcast in 1979, however it was the actual product that went on sale in 1979, with the advert not being aired until 1980 due to the 1979 ITV Strike.[4]
First going on air in the early 1980s, the advert featured the English actress Jenny Logan,[5] dancing around a typical British living room in high heels, shaking the powder onto a carpet and vacuuming it up, while appearing to sing a musical jingle. The main lyric is "do the Shake 'n' Vac, and put the freshness back". The vocals were actually recorded by South African session vocalist, Miriam Stockley.
The jingle was in a 1950s rock and roll retro style. This style was very popular in the 1970s and 1980s in the UK. In 2000, the advert polled 18th place in the Channel 4 The 100 Greatest TV Adverts programme.[6]
Logan also appeared on This Morning in 2004 as a guest to talk about the commercial.[7]
In 2010, an updated version of the advert (with Jenny Logan) was made and published on TV for the public.
The controversy was due to the ITV industrial action of 1979. Whilst the Shake 'n' Vac product was on sale in shops in 1979, the TV advertising was delayed to 1980.[8] This caused some confusion amongst pop culture researchers, who assumed that the arrival of the product on shop shelves and the TV advertisement both happened in the same year.
The early claim that the advert was originally broadcast in 1979 was disputed. Whilst some researchers pointed to 1980, others believed that the ad first appeared somewhat later. According to the book Box of Delights (ISBN 0333518128), it first appeared in 1985, and this was backed up by the earliest print reference to Shake 'n' Vac being a 1982 newspaper advert. However, it was argued that Ms Logan's clothing and hairstyle and the decor of the room featured in the ad pointed towards the ad being filmed in 1979/1980.