Great Western Railway (GWR) is again using Enid Blyton's Famous Five to advertise its services.
The new campaign will be the fourth time that GWR has feature the Famous Five, and the first since the pandemic lockdown. 2020's campaign featured the four youngsters and their dog using the train to rescue Uncle Quentin, whose effort to show off his new jet pack had gone wrong!
In the new TV advertisement, ‘Five Get There First', Julian, George, Dick, Anne and Timmy the dog take a speedy and relaxing trip on a hybrid GWR train to the seaside, enjoying lovely views, conversation and cups of tea, while Uncle Quention and Aunt Fanny take the same trip, but by car.
Quentin and Fanny's journey is beset with pollution and problems.
Their car's exhaust spews noxious fumes, highlighting the environmental benefit of travelling by train instead.
Richard E. Grant as Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny as Jennifer Saunders believe that they can reach the seaside faster than the Famous Five, as Uncle Quentin declares that the “Last one there is a rotten egg” as he speeds away.
But their car journey is disrupted by traffic delays, road pollution, farmyard hazards, and a windscreen and farmyard obscured by mud, before they career through the streets of a quiet seaside town, only to find that the Five have already been there for quite some time.
Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny resolve to start travelling by train.
GWR is increasing its daily train service 5% this summer, and sees ‘Five Get There First' as a fun way to highlight the benefits of travelling by train. The company explains that, “The campaign aims to inspire travellers to take their own adventure and uncover the wealth of exciting destinations across the GWR network, from the Cotswolds, to London, South Wales and the south coast.”
GWR Director of Sales and Marketing, Amanda Burns, said: “We're proud to continue to produce distinctive advertising campaigns that stand out in a crowded travel market and hope ‘Five Get There First' inspires people to travel with GWR and experience our world-class destinations for themselves.”
The campaign, based on Enid Blyton's original Famous Five narratives, was again created by agency adam&eveDDB, whose Executive Creative Director Ben Tollett said: “We couldn't be prouder to present yet another high energy caper from the Famous Five. This time the gang race to the beach, whilst Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin find trouble in taking the car.”
Although the Bristol to Gloucester service is now every 30 minutes, they do not stop at Cam and Dursley Station and we only have an hourly service.
For a population of tens of thousands, it is not good enough.