Showing posts with label 90s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 90s. Show all posts

Wednesday, 30 March 2016

RETRO REVIVAL: McVitie's Trio

2016 Trio Bar Wrapper

Big blast from the past time. Trio, a marriage of biscuit, toffee and chocolate originally manufactured by Jacob's, once again graces store shelves! The revival has come as a result of McVitie's - present owner of the Jacob's brand - giving in to what it described as "massive consumer demand". That said, it's only a limited edition return for this cult classic so I was keen to try it out to see if the 2016 version is worth stocking up on. 

2016 Trio Multipack Wrapper

2016 Trio Multipack Wrapper

Presentation-wise, the multi-pack design is instantly recognisable as it borrows straight from the late 80's/90's look. Indeed, the brand name typeface directly picks up on the advertising from yesteryear in which an animated girl called Suzy would shout 'Trio' repeatedly - if you're not familiar with this, see the end of this post. To be honest, on today's shelves the design still works really well with the loud presentation feeling sufficiently differentiated amongst the mass of competing offerings. 

2016 Trio Bar Wrapper

2016 Trio Bar Wrapper

Moving on to the design of the individual bars, the artwork condenses down really neatly and I am delighted by the use of paper. On the latter point, I've written about this before, but, generally, I really dislike brands use of plastic as the go-to option. I say this purely on aesthetic grounds as, for me, plastic just signals cheapness and mass production. On the other hand, glass, foil, paper, card etc generally make a product feel a bit more special and cared for - even if that isn't the case at all.


2016 Trio Bar Unwrapped

As for the look of the bar itself, there's no lack of character as it harks back to the original with three segments sporting an embossed 'Trio' brand name.


2016 Trio Bar Cross Section

Taste-wise, I'm very glad to say the 2016 Trio hits the spot. Expecting an overly hefty dose of sugar to overwhelm the palate, I was delighted to find they've been pretty restrained. Indeed, the biscuit layer is really quite plain and the chocolate boasts nice milky, cocoa flavours rather than pure sweetness. All of this provides perfect support for the sweeter toffee cream layer creating a balanced and rather tasty offering.

In summary, these bars are a great throw back with a few modern temptations pleasingly avoided. Moreover, the bars taste great with all three layers adding something different whilst complementing one another. These get a definite GBD thumbs up from me. 

Oh, and on the advertising front it's worth mentioning that McVitie's are currently looking for people to feature in the bar's new ad. If you're interested, see here - you'll need to scroll down the page for details. That aside, this wouldn't be a retro revival post without indulging in some advertising nostalgia...









BRAND LINKS
McVitie's Website
McVitie's Twitter
United Biscuits Website - McVitie's Page

Monday, 23 November 2015

NOSTALGIA HIT: 90's Tetley Tea Folk

For all those having a tough start to the week, take a moment to sit back and enjoy a well deserved cuppa with the Gaffer...



BRAND LINKS
Tetley Tea Website
Tetley Tea Twitter
Tetley Tea Facebook

Sunday, 21 June 2015

Wednesday, 17 June 2015

NOSTALGIA HIT: 90's 'Have you had your Weetabix'

A great Weetabix ad now with none other than Bugs Bunny touting the cereal's benefits in a fun little sequence with Elmer Fudd. Enjoy.

Saturday, 13 June 2015

NOSTALGIA HIT: Weetos

I love going through the decades and seeing how the advertising changes, therefore, I thought I would begin this morning with 3 decades in 3 ads for the Weetabix-owned breakfast cereal Weetos. From the fun animations of Derek and Professor Weeto in the 80's and 90's respectively to the 00's buffed-up wholegrain cereal mascot keeping physically active in the kitchen, you can certainly see the changes.





Friday, 12 June 2015

NOSTALGIA HIT: 90's 'Only Smarties have the answer'

To get things going here's a quirky little ad that throws us in to a Dali or Escher-esque world of Smarties.




For much more things Smarties related see my original review on the GBD website...

GBD LINK:
Smarties Review

Thursday, 11 June 2015

NOSTALGIA HIT: 90's Cadbury 'Fruit & Nut Case'

Growing up Cadbury's Fruit & Nut was what my parents scurried away in the fridge and ate the odd bit of in the evening. Together with the foil wrapper and maturely designed paper sleeve, I ended up elevating this bar to a very special, sophisticated status far and above any other. Indeed, every morsel that came my way was pretty much cherished. Of course, as this ad puts so well, I had effectively turned in to a complete Fruit & Nut case:)



Sunday, 7 June 2015

NOSTALGIA HIT: 90's Lion Bar 'Wild Thing'

As a child Lion Bars had a certain maturity and manliness about them that made them feel like true heavyweights of the chocolate bar world. Indeed, the following ad came from a time when this bar still felt like it could put hairs on your chest.

Friday, 5 June 2015

NOSTALGIA HIT: 90's Cadbury Crunchie 'Get that Friday feeling'

It's Friday so what better ad to celebrate the end of the week than this fab piece from good old Aardman Animations...

Thursday, 4 June 2015

NOSTALGIA HIT: Jaffa Cakes 'Total Eclipse'

A classic ad demonstrating the great educational benefits of devouring Jaffa Cakes...

Tuesday, 2 June 2015

NOSTALGIA HIT: 90's Guinness 'Pure Genius'

With Guinness' new design reviewed earlier today I thought it was time to sit back and enjoy one of their many great ads.