The series of adverts for Aviva UK starring comedian Paul Whitehouse in a vast range of guises have grown in popularity to be come one of the favourite ads on British TV, and one of the few that don’t have people running to put the kettle on once the commercial break starts. The mix for information and humour has seen demand for Aviva’s products to rocket, and the new adverts are always highly anticipated, the latest being no exception.
Welshman Paul Whitehouse first shot to fame in the ‘Harry Enfield Television Show’ and ‘The Fast Show’, where one of his most famous character was as one of the two tailors who made the ‘ooh suits you sir’ an internationally recognised catchphrase. Described by a Hollywood superstar as one of the greatest actors ever due to his versatility, Whitehouse has gone from strength to strength and is now one of our favourite comedians/actors.
Long gone are the days when actors who made commercials were considered to have taken a step backwards in their careers, and a quick look at some of the huge names appearing in today’s adverts proves this point. The characters that Paul Whitehouse gets to portray in the Aviva ads give him full reign to showcase his comedic genius, as the latest as clearly shows.
This time we see Woodhouse as Ollie the fisherman, in an ad for Aviva’s multicar insurance. As always, he is wanting to spend the money he saves on his insurance on something to suit his hobby, in this case it is a pair of chest waders for when he gets up to his ‘knicky knacky noos’ in water whilst fishing. His curly hair and cowboy hat complete the look and we have another character to look forward to in the commercial breaks.
This character has also taken another step and is featured on another short video that is attracting hundreds of thousands of hits on YouTube. Entitled ‘I’ve heard that line somewhere before’ we see Ollie going to the riverbank and saying to the camera “I love the smell of neoprene in the morning’ referring to material his waders are made from, but the line is a parody of a famous line spoken in a famous film, the question is; which one?
Log onto and watch the video and see if you know the answer without resorting to a search engine, if you get stuck, ask your dad. Every man over the age of 40 should know this one in a second!
