Talking about the dark ages of communications – I had a weird flashback moment to them this morning when I saw a piece about royal weddings in the paper,  illustrated with a picture from a Charles and Di street party in 1981.

There in the background was a Richard Shop – (a late and unlamented high street fashion chain, for younger readers.)

I could INSTANTLY remember all the words to the Richard Shop TV campaign – if you’re my age I bet you can too (google Richard Shops, there are pages and pages of sites devoted to it).  All together now:

Richard Shops are filled with all the pretty things/ soft and lovely pretty things to wear/  Hey there pretty face/ Make the world a prettier place/ Come pretty face/ Come buy your clothes at Richard Shops 

Thank God I was alone in the kitchen.  It led to a medley of classic 1970s/’80s advertising jingles which would have amazed and astounded my children, had they been there.

So, 2 questions:

• Where the hell is this stuff stored?  Why can my memory  file and recall it so effectively, without being asked to, when so much else – the date of my next VAT return, for example – seems so much more elusive; and
• Why don’t advertisers use songs like this in advertising any more?  They evidently imprint brand names on customers’ memories for decades.

I genuinely cannot remember a single recent ad for either Pepsi or Coke, but You Tubing the I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke song bought a nostalgic tear to my eye and, through the lump in my throat,  I could sing along with every word (and I really hate Coke) .