Why did we think the Milk Tray man was romantic?

[Popquorn]

Basically he worshipped from afar (stalked?), then broke into people’s homes dressed all in black to leave them a box of chocs, and this was seen by most people, including younger me, as endearing and romantic.

Was it the world before #MeToo and entirely acceptable, or am I simply mis remembering how creepy he actually was?

Life was more fun back than when everything wasn't overanalysed

You are assuming that we took the advert seriously.

Luckily, back in the day, people didn't take crap like this seriously. It was just a bit of a laugh.

Same goes for modern adverts. 80% they are aimed at children and infantile adults and are not to be taken seriously at all.

I believed in Father Christmas for longer than most intelligent children until I was probably 11, and every year i insisted on leaving my stocking outside the front door because I was worried about him coming in!

I was around 10 when that advert debuted and my god, did it give me some confusingly grown-up feelings whenever I saw him start undoing that 501 button-fly.

🤣

I don’t think we overthought things so much back then

If we're adding creepy songs how about ''Every Breath You Take'?

That was knowingly creepy though. Sting has often said that he finds it really weird that people have it played at weddings because it’s a disturbing song about a stalker. See also James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful.

I wouldn't mind back then. They had the lime barrel. I wouldn't be bothered with MT now.

You seriously need to write a horror script! I’d watch it.

It’s meant to be creepy, though. It’s not supposed to be romantic. It’s literally a song about a stalker. That’s the whole point.

We also got invested in the "will they get together...?" Kenco coffee love-story. Maybe we just sought romance from our adverts.

The Mr Soft advert for mint was clearly about taking drugs in the 1980s.

"Mr. Soft, won't you tell me why the world in which you're living is so strange? Oh, Mr. Soft, how come everything around you is so soft and rearranged?".

I don't think I ever thought the Milk Tray man was romantic - more of a specialised delivery service as he buggered off straight away. Obviously, this was decades before you could actually get chocolate, ice cream or a bottle of wine delivered via your phone.

I was ok about Father Christmas though I did not like sitting on his lap in a department store as he had had a beer! I also was frightened when he came down the road on a flat bed lorry. Obviously to my mind he was kidnapping kids. Could not understand why mum was going "Look! Father Christmas!! Obviously she was in cahoots with him!!

My brother made that set!!!!

Was he on drugs? 😆😆

I thought he was the inspiration for Amazon Prime?

The Stinking Bishop?

I thought they knew each other and he would break into her bedroom at night to leave chocolates on her dressing table as a treat. Wasn't she asleep in bed when he swung through the window?

Got to agree.
Overthinking.

I thought James Bond style too. Don’t make it something it isn’t.

There were many diet coke ad's. Most featured women losing it when a fit bloke took his top off and drank diet coke. Often associated with the song I just wanna make love to you. It would be seen as creepy and objectifying men now. But back then all we wanted to see was who was the new diet coke man.

But this was the days when most girls had the athena poster of a topless man with a kitten on their wall....

Excellent piss take. I think the Milk Tray advert was already a ridiculous cliche by the 90s but it was a brilliant advertising campaign. Here we are nearly 60 years after it first debuted still talking about it and we all remember the strapline.

To be fair this was also when the tv show Gladiator included bust measurement in its stats for female Gladiators every time they were profiled before a bout of Hang Tough or whatever. It was in many ways a more confidently sexy period. I think I find that less disturbing than the more publicly ‘respectful’ approach now and the way it clashes with the deranged sounding porn a lot of men seem to end up watching these days. I’d much rather guys were open about liking boobs but would feel really weird about watching a woman getting choked.

I think I was a child or teen when the ads were on TV. I just assumed that he was meant to be a James Bond style character who grabbed a few minutes between missions to deliver chocolates to the subject of his affection. It never entered my head that he might be a stalker because I was blissfully unaware that stalking was a thing.

The scenarios were very over the top - skiing down mountains ahead of an avalanche and evading sharks etc. And the people who featured in the ads were obviously very wealthy - yachts and chalets etc. It wasn't supposed to be real life - it was fantasy. I've just had a look back at a few of the ads and the music was very reminiscent of a Bond movie. And sure, isn't that the whole premise of the Bond movies? Bond is constantly breaking and entering.

They were great ads because they appealed to women - who doesn't want an athletic, handsome man delivering you chocolates and then disappearing so you can eat them in peace? And leaving his calling card as a token of love. And I guess they appealed to men too, in the same way that the Bond films appeal to them - that whole rugged, outdoor lifestyle.