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KIT KAT 1969-1971

MetadataFramesRelated records
Metadata

WORK ID: YFA 3955 (Master Record)

TitleYearDate
KIT KAT 1969-19711969-1971 1969-01-01
Details Original Format: 35mm
Colour: Black & White / Colour
Sound: Sound
Duration: 15 mins 24 secs

Subject: Industry
Fashions



Summary
The original four-finger version of the bar was developed after a worker at the Rowntree's factory, York put a suggestion in the recommendation box for a snack that a "man could have in his lunch box for work".  The product was launched in September 1935 in the UK as Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp, and the later two-finger version was launched on May 1 ...
Description
The original four-finger version of the bar was developed after a worker at the Rowntree's factory, York put a suggestion in the recommendation box for a snack that a "man could have in his lunch box for work".  The product was launched in September 1935 in the UK as Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp, and the later two-finger version was launched on May 15, 1936.  Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp was renamed Kit Kat Chocolate Crisp in 1937, and after World War II just Kit Kat....
The original four-finger version of the bar was developed after a worker at the Rowntree's factory, York put a suggestion in the recommendation box for a snack that a "man could have in his lunch box for work".  The product was launched in September 1935 in the UK as Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp, and the later two-finger version was launched on May 15, 1936.  Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp was renamed Kit Kat Chocolate Crisp in 1937, and after World War II just Kit Kat.  The following advertizements ran from 1969-1971.  Plumber:  Kit Kat makes the break that keeps you going (1969) B&W Plants:  Kit Kat makes the break that keeps you going (1969) B&W Meccano:  Kit Kat makes the break that keeps you going (1969) B&W Student:  Kit Kat makes the break that keeps you going (1969) B&W Rollers:  Kit Kat makes the break that keeps you going (1969) B&W Trunk:  Kit Kat makes the break that keeps you going (1969) B&W Ticket Collector:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) B&W Café - Post Box:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) B&W Magician – Licence:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) B&W Bank - Ticket Collector:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) B&W Policeman – Post box:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) B&W Postman – Light:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) B&W Napoleon Gangsters:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) B&W Barber:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Safe:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col BR Ticket Collector:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Bus Ticket/Cash Register:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Commissionaire – Clock:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Photo Me – Decorator:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Lucky Dip:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Street Photographer:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Builder - Admiral Roulette:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Autograph Book:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Dry Cleaner – Decorator:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Moon wrapper:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Sherlock Holmes:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Postman - Mirror – Policeman:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) B&W Magician:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) B&W Pocket Watch:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Issac Newton – Builder:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Juke Box – Decorator:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Cavalier:  Kit Kat.  It has to be Kit Kat (1970) Col Snow:  Have a break, have a Kit Kat (1971) Col
Context
This is one of very many Rowntree TV ads during the early 1960s which aimed to show the universal appeal of Kit Kats, each featuring a different everyday situation, or someone from a different occupation, breaking open a Kit Kat as if it was manna from heaven.  Here we have an excited boy having a break from having to figure out the complexities of Meccano, the very popular boy’s hobby of the time.  This is one of a large collection of films made by Rowntree’s of York (now Nestlé), most of...
This is one of very many Rowntree TV ads during the early 1960s which aimed to show the universal appeal of Kit Kats, each featuring a different everyday situation, or someone from a different occupation, breaking open a Kit Kat as if it was manna from heaven.  Here we have an excited boy having a break from having to figure out the complexities of Meccano, the very popular boy’s hobby of the time. 

This is one of a large collection of films made by Rowntree’s of York (now Nestlé), most of which are adverts for their confectionary products.  The advertising idea of a ‘break’ was converted into the famous slogan ‘Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat’ in May 1957, along with the image of the broken bar, when the first advert appeared on commercial TV.  The slogan was coined by Donald Gilles, an executive at advertising agency JWT in London.  When TV advertising began in 1955 Rowntree’s was ready with a £50,000 budget, increasing to £650,000 by 1957, half their total advertising budget.  By the 1960s Meccano sales were beginning to decline, so no doubt they would have been pleased to have this bit of publicity.
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