Consuming nostalgia: the 1973 “Bike Ride” Hovis television advertisement

Abstract

The 1973 Hovis television advertisement, directed by Ridley Scott, commonly referred to as “Boy on the Bike” or “Bike Ride”, is one of Britain’s most well-known. The advert presents a bread delivery boy struggling to push a heavily laden baker’s bike up a steep cobblestoned hill to deliver a basketful of large, traditional loaves to “Old Ma Peggoty’s place”, the last stop on the round, before freewheeling back down to the bakery, where, we are told, a hot drink and thick slices of warm, freshly baked bread are awaiting him. The voiceover is the delivery boy, now an elderly man, nostalgically reminiscing over his younger years.Describing the continuing remembrance of the advert, Ridley Scott declared in 2019: “I remember the filming process like it was yesterday, and its success represents the power of the advert. It taught me that when you combine the appropriate music and the appropriate film, you have lift-off.” The music he is referring to is a short extract from Dvořák’s New World Symphony, recorded for the advert by Ashington Colliery Brass Band.“Bike Ride” creates a nostalgic evocation of the stereotypical, English working class. Yet, simultaneously, “Bike Ride” also provides images of stereotypical, idealised English rural village life, exemplified by the filming location of Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset. This article will explore the functioning of these nostalgic representations of a bygone golden era.

Keywords

• music
• food
• heritage
• nostalgia
• television
• urban