Cyclist ‘mimics’ classic Hoivis ‘Boy on a Bike’ TV commercial pushing bicycle down same cobbled street
Life imitates art: Cyclist ‘mimics’ classic Hovis ‘Boy on the Bike’ TV commercial by pushing bicycle onto the same Dorset cobbled street where the commercial was filmed 50 years earlier
- The Hovis ‘Boy on a Bike’ commercial was released in 1973 and filmed in Dorset
- A cyclist was caught pushing his bike down the same street this morning
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It was the cobbled street made famous by a beloved British television commercial that captured the heart of the nation.
Hovis’ TV commercial ‘Boy on a Bike’, broadcast in 1973, showed a young lad bravely pushing a bicycle loaded with bread up the steep hillside of a post-war British town.
And now, 50 years after it first aired, a cyclist has been depicted recreating the heartwarming commercial in an example of true-to-life art.
The man was photographed battling the snow-covered street of Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset, on Wednesday morning.
Although the street looks different today than it did 50 years ago, with its houses covered in a layer of snow.
A man struggles to push his bicycle up the cobbled street of Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset on Wednesday after a dusting of snow
The street was the setting for the iconic 1973 Hovis ‘Boy on a Bike’ commercial (pictured), in which a young lad fought to push his bicycle up the steep street before riding off.
The Hovis commercial – voted Britain’s most iconic – should do just that is set in a fictional Yorkshire town. But Shaftesbury, Dorset, was chosen because it has one of the steepest streets in Britain.
Once the young boy reaches the top of the hill, he excitedly rolls back down with a smile on his face, declaring in a heavy Yorkshire accent, ‘It was like taking bread to the top of the world. It was a big ride back though.’
The advertisement was later parodied by numerous comedians, most notably by The Two Ronnies.
Celebrated director Ridley Scott began his career with the original ad and remastered it a few years ago with the National Archives of the British Film Institute (BFI).
Speaking of the 2019 ad, Alien’s director said: “I am delighted that the ‘boy on the bicycle’ is still regarded as such an iconic and heartwarming story that remains close to the heart of the nation.
“I remember the filming process like it was yesterday, and its success represents the power of the ad.”
In the poll, it beat out Cadbury’s 2007 ad featuring a “gorilla” drumming along to Phil Collins’ hit In The Air Tonight, and the 1983 Yellow Pages commercial in which elderly fictional author JR Hartley uses the telephone directory to search to a copy of his own book.
Research agency Kantar conducted the poll.
Other ads that made the top five were John Lewis’ 2010 Always A Woman and Coca-Cola’s 1971 classic featuring young people singing I’d Like To Teach The World to Sing.