The latest Halifax ad continues the brand's theme of having real staff members singing along to reworded versions of classic songs.
It has been suggested that the public are finally tiring of the Halifax campaign: the first ad, when Howard sang backwards to Sex Bomb, aired way back in 2000.
This latest ad was greeted with a deluge of negative comments on YouTube, and there are several Facebook groups dedicated to their loathing of the campaign.
The latest staff member to follow in Howard's hallowed footsteps is Thomas Yau, a Halifax call-centre worker from Leeds, who was picked from more than 1,200 people who applied to be in the new campaign.
Thomas is shown singing to Herman's Hermits Something Good somewhere on a beach in South Africa, accompanied by around 200 singing and dancing extras, an animated crab, and Halifax Howard himself on a surfboard.
However, Howard doesn't, as in the notorious Happy Days episode that has become synonymous with a good thing that has been dragged out for far, far too long, use the surfboard to jump over a shark.
The ad once again promotes the interest levels offered on Halifax current accounts, comparing them favourably to high-street rivals offering 60 times less.
Looking at the brand's recent performance on BrandIndex, the ad's vocal detractors are in the minority, since the reaction is unambiguously good.
Halifax's buzz score has gone up three points since the ads first aired on 6 January.
More significantly, the core message about Halifax offering higher interest rates has clearly worked, with the bank's value rating rising from +4 to +12.
Even after eight years, the Halifax campaign seems to be delivering the goods.
Methodology: YouGov interviews 2,000 people each weekday to form its BrandIndex, a daily measure of public perception of more than 1,100 consumer brands across 32 sectors.
It is measured on a seven-point profile:
1. Buzz
2. General impression
3. Quality
4. Value
5. Satisfaction
6. Recommend
7. Corporate reputation
In addition, we supply an index score.
- Sundip Chahal, www.brandindex.com
It has been suggested that the public are finally tiring of the Halifax campaign: the first ad, when Howard sang backwards to Sex Bomb, aired way back in 2000.
This latest ad was greeted with a deluge of negative comments on YouTube, and there are several Facebook groups dedicated to their loathing of the campaign.
The latest staff member to follow in Howard's hallowed footsteps is Thomas Yau, a Halifax call-centre worker from Leeds, who was picked from more than 1,200 people who applied to be in the new campaign.
Thomas is shown singing to Herman's Hermits Something Good somewhere on a beach in South Africa, accompanied by around 200 singing and dancing extras, an animated crab, and Halifax Howard himself on a surfboard.
However, Howard doesn't, as in the notorious Happy Days episode that has become synonymous with a good thing that has been dragged out for far, far too long, use the surfboard to jump over a shark.
The ad once again promotes the interest levels offered on Halifax current accounts, comparing them favourably to high-street rivals offering 60 times less.
Looking at the brand's recent performance on BrandIndex, the ad's vocal detractors are in the minority, since the reaction is unambiguously good.
Halifax's buzz score has gone up three points since the ads first aired on 6 January.
More significantly, the core message about Halifax offering higher interest rates has clearly worked, with the bank's value rating rising from +4 to +12.
Even after eight years, the Halifax campaign seems to be delivering the goods.
Methodology: YouGov interviews 2,000 people each weekday to form its BrandIndex, a daily measure of public perception of more than 1,100 consumer brands across 32 sectors.
It is measured on a seven-point profile:
1. Buzz
2. General impression
3. Quality
4. Value
5. Satisfaction
6. Recommend
7. Corporate reputation
In addition, we supply an index score.
- Sundip Chahal, www.brandindex.com