JeffP Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 I grew up with the famous five, my sister, a real tomboy, identified strongly with George. But so much of Enid Blyton's work has now had to be changed to please the present PC world we live in. Maybe the ads are just trying to promote nostalgia? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
a320sim Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Noticeable that for most of the advert they are standing up on the train. Is that because the seats are so bl**dy hard you can't sit on them for long?!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 The advert's been around a while, I think it first aired last October at IET launch time. Watching several hours of catchup on channel 4 yesterday, that advert was in every break. Music goes beyond twee and becomes a bit sinister after the 57th viewing! Jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu from EGDL Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 I wonder if GWR would make the posters available as A4 or A3 images Later, Stu from EGDL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold rodent279 Posted March 16, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 16, 2018 I grew up with the famous five, my sister, a real tomboy, identified strongly with George. But so much of Enid Blyton's work has now had to be changed to please the present PC world we live in. Maybe the ads are just trying to promote nostalgia? Reading them to my son now, they seem very old fashioned and out of date. Entertaining, but then so is Thomas Hardy, and his style is hardly contemporary. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unchuffed Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 The juxtaposition of early 21st century technology a graphic style from the 30s and characters from the 30s to the 50s has a bit of a feel of the "somewhere in the 20th century" retro future of Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil', but sunnier....I imagine that in that Five go Mad in the City, poster they're about to take a wrong turn and find themselves in the city's cyberpunkish underbelly... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium HillsideDepot Posted March 16, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 16, 2018 I wonder if GWR would make the posters available as A4 or A3 images Later, Stu from EGDL I suggested that via the GWR website, but the staff who receive those messages seem only to be able to deal with complaints and not compliments, as their reply suggested I ask at my local station for posters to be saved when their display date had passed. I can that see A4 or A3 posters are very peripheral to running trains, but that's almost the point of the campaign, and if its successful people will want to buy such things. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Doesn't say much for the speed of these new trains if a hot-air balloon and an old motorcycle & sidecar can keep up with them... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted March 17, 2018 Author Share Posted March 17, 2018 The advert's been around a while, I think it first aired last October at IET launch time. Watching several hours of catchup on channel 4 yesterday, that advert was in every break. Music goes beyond twee and becomes a bit sinister after the 57th viewing! Jo I never watch normal TV any more so I’d missed it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBRJ Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 I am not normally very negative but i find the whole idea of First Great Western calling themselves GWR just so wrong. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
009 micro modeller Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Aren't the books supposed to be set in Dorset anyway? (i.e served mostly by South West trains not GWR). For a more obvious character from children's literature they could have looked at their London terminal's name. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sem34090 Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Whenever I see the pictures, I can never help but think they would all look so much better with the plastic green sausage on wheels replaced by a 'Castle' (OK, it wouldn't be in GWR livery, but how about 7007?) on a rake of appropriate coaches... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shedmaster Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Hi all, I've just found this on another forum, a reworked series of these advertising posters, i.e "Timmy Says Its Quicker By Boat", worth a mention I thought ? https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/five-dont-go-on-a-great-western-adventure.162047/ Kindest Regards, Shed. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Hi all, I've just found this on another forum, a reworked series of these advertising posters, i.e "Timmy Says Its Quicker By Boat", worth a mention I thought ? https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/five-dont-go-on-a-great-western-adventure.162047/ Kindest Regards, Shed. Brilliant. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 17, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 17, 2018 (edited) Aren't the books supposed to be set in Dorset anyway? (i.e served mostly by South West trains not GWR). For a more obvious character from children's literature they could have looked at their London terminal's name. If you looked at an old map of Dorset when the rail network was at its greatest extent and the county did not extend as far eastwards as it does now I would reckon the GWR's route mileage in the county wasn't a vast amount less than the L&SWR's (some of it was joint of course) plus the S&DJtR had its presence as well). And of course west Dorset with the coastline of cliffs was served to a greater extent by the GWR than it was by the LSWR. Edited March 17, 2018 by The Stationmaster 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Martino Posted March 17, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 17, 2018 As a long time travel industry guy, a marketing professional and someone both enthusiastic about rail travel and a fan of the (historic) GWR, I find these ads charming. I’m pleased to see the current GWR making use of their historic roots. I’m an ex-pat, so can’t say if they’re living up to how I imagine the old GW were in terms of service. I hope so. Certainly their image appears to be doing the right job. I’d certainly like to buy examples of posters and if the GWR are not making them available, I think they’re missing a trick. I like the way the current GWR’s marketing folks are thinking. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
009 micro modeller Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 If you looked at an old map of Dorset when the rail network was at its greatest extent and the county did not extend as far eastwards as it does now I would reckon the GWR's route mileage in the county wasn't a vast amount less than the L&SWR's (some of it was joint of course) plus the S&DJtR had its presence as well). And of course west Dorset with the coastline of cliffs was served to a greater extent by the GWR than it was by the LSWR. But based on the TOC's current network? This is an interesting analysis of the use of the old GWR's name - though I think the Mediterranean version of Godwin's law may need to be invoked: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/03/firstgroup-great-western-railway-advertising-standards-poster Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbles2 Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 I have to agree the artwork is great and the adverts are a pleasure to watch, but it has crossed my mind how jolly middle to upper class the 5 sound and its probably just as well cause its going to cost 'em a small fortune for all that traveling around by train. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBRJ Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 I wonder how many people will have First Great Western's effort displayed as art in 80 years? https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51MslXCYoNL.jpg 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 (edited) Well, I rather like it, and I think it will play well with both older sentimentalists, and <30yo retro-fans, of the sort who go to ‘vintage fairs’. In short, it ought to help capture the “grey pound”, and the “can’t ever hope to buy a house, so might as well spend on enjoying life while we haven’t got kids yet pound”. I can’t imagine that having it picked to pieces by a collection of grumpy old train spotters who haven’t really adjusted well to the passing of George Jackson churchward is going to worry them overly much. ;-) Edited March 18, 2018 by Nearholmer 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 I wonder how many people will have First Great Western's effort displayed as art in 80 years? https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51MslXCYoNL.jpg Who knows. Probably not, but it's only a tiny proportion of the stuff from 80 years ago that is remembered and displayed now. Some modern advertising will be lauded as art, though probably TV ads rather than posters. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 18, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 18, 2018 As a long time travel industry guy, a marketing professional and someone both enthusiastic about rail travel and a fan of the (historic) GWR, I find these ads charming. I’m pleased to see the current GWR making use of their historic roots. I’m an ex-pat, so can’t say if they’re living up to how I imagine the old GW were in terms of service. I hope so. Certainly their image appears to be doing the right job. I’d certainly like to buy examples of posters and if the GWR are not making them available, I think they’re missing a trick. I like the way the current GWR’s marketing folks are thinking. Service from GWR staff is a slightly mixed bag but preponderantly I find it somewhere between good and excellent and the overwhelming majority are, by a long way, polite, friendly, and as helpful as they can be. In some cases they are hampered by their lack of railway knowledge but still do their best. Recently their on-train customer service people have been getting even better than in the past and in my experience have become consistently good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Service from GWR staff is a slightly mixed bag but preponderantly I find it somewhere between good and excellent and the overwhelming majority are, by a long way, polite, friendly, and as helpful as they can be. In some cases they are hampered by their lack of railway knowledge but still do their best. Recently their on-train customer service people have been getting even better than in the past and in my experience have become consistently good. I thought it was exceptional on my Moreton-Oxford trip, short as it was. The (what are they called, these days?) conductor/guard/ TTI/train manager on the IET had a customer with a season ticket from Oxford, but who boarded at Handborough, and asked for a Handborough-Oxford single to be added. He was excused the extra payment. In sharp contrast, a member of platform staff at Oxford (probably Network Rail, not GWR?) absolutely screamed at an elderly man who was seeing someone off on the train (which was stationary) to "Get back behind the yellow line." As I left the HST after my return trip the young lady (guard/TTI/train manger, whatever) waved from the open droplight and called out, 'Cheerio, dear." I find such small gestures mean a great deal. (CJL) 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Oxford is managed by GWR, so the staff there are GWR employees. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 (edited) Oxford is managed by GWR, so the staff there are GWR employees. In that case, the guy with the mouth really let the side down. He was in orange rather than green hi-vis which is what led me to assume NR rather than GWR. (CJL) Edited March 18, 2018 by dibber25 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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