SUPERMAN HATES SMOKERS

Here’s a blast from the past. Matt Richardson posted this vintage TV spot on his Poptique blog:

I’m 99.9% certain it was made back in 1980 by the London based Richard Williams Studio – it certainly has his trademark stylized, super-perspective animation, and has been stuck at the back of my mind all these years. It sort of links in with the the Thief & the Cobbler redux disc that’s floating about.

Update! Eric Goldberg sent in this additional info on the Superman spot:

Layouts by Dick, animated by me, and it’s still on my reel. Anecdote: When it premiered in London, I was at a party talking to a woman about what I had done for the telly lately. I told her about the Superman spot, and was immediately castigated for it being “anti-gay”. Howzat again? She explained: ” Superman’s all big and butch, and he says, ‘Never say yes to a cigarette,’ which is like saying ‘never say yes to a fag,’ and in America, gays are called fags….” I thanked her for her insight and moved on…