The difference, of course, was that Anchor butter came from New Zealand.
Most people, thinking that was a dead end, would probably have stopped there and ignored it, but that particular agency wondered 'How can we turn our difference into a benefit?'. And in developing the line 'Only Anchor cows eat butter all year round', it immediately repositioned all other brands of butter as the produce of cows eating stale straw for half the year.
The product benefit was ignored and the Anchor cows became 'the brand'.
Then, they made the brand engaging, endearing and memorable with happy singing cows - famous advertising making for a famous brand - with famous results.
This time, though, it looks like the cows are the only part of the brief that has been thought about. To put it crudely: 'Let's do something new with happy singing cows.'
Well, computer animation is new. So is talking instead of singing. And, because it's lighter, the cows can climb trees. And we'll give them characters, with voices everyone will recognise.
So here we have yet another friendly 30 seconds' worth of celebrity-voiced animation.
It might remind older viewers of the parent brand. It might prolong the singing cow franchise. But I'm not so sure that it's really going to do the business for the actual product.
Funnily enough, we have Anchor Light at home. It's good, original, and has a real point of difference. Just like the original Anchor TV ads in fact. There may be nothing wrong with this latest advertising, but it seems a shame that it hasn't kept up with the product in terms of originality and engagement.
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