SINGAPORE: When she was growing up, while others used commercial breaks as a chance to dash to the toilet, Irene Ang would be glued to the television screen.
“I was very excited to watch (the advertisements),” the actress-comedienne recalls. “Ads are very, very, very, very entertaining for me.”
In fact, Singaporean TV adverts had a way of embedding themselves in the national psyche, from the elegance of the Singapore Airlines (SIA) stewardesses to earworm fast-food jingles to witty taglines.
These commercials have mirrored and moulded Singaporeans’ sense of identity over the decades. “They’re like that naggy parent but in a good way,” quips actor Chua Enlai, who starred in Ikea’s 2003 “gangsters” advert.
For singer-songwriter Dick Lee, who penned McDonald’s Good Time, Great Taste jingle in 1990, adverts were more than sales pitches. “Ads brought me into a different world,” he says. “(They were) very aspirational.”
WATCH: From Milo to McDonald’s — Do you remember these Singapore TV ads? (45:35)
