ideas

Arnotts biscuits advertisement

from State Library of Queensland

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  Dancing biscuits attract the attention of customers. An interesting commercial approach. Fairy wings, fairy music, and fairy taste.

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  Apart from bringing a former luxury food within the budget of working class households, Arnott's success was built on clever branding and advertising. The Milk Arrowroot 'Living pictures' campaign, which used customers' snapshots of their children, is perhaps the best-known example. As a result, Arnott's is one of a small number of brand names to gain a spurious association with Australian history and culture (others include Foster's, Holden and Vegemite), an association which has in turn been exploited in Arnott's advertising. The 1997 takeover of the company by US conglomerate Campbell's consequently inspired a degree of controversy. Because of its 'Australian' associations, Arnott's packaging and other artefacts are sought after by collectors and others. The Powerhouse Museum holds a large collection of Arnott's artefacts and in 1991 presented an exhibition on the company's history. Unlike some other manufacturers, Arnott's signage was not notable for innovation or striking graphic design, relying instead for its appeal on bold sign-writer's lettering and one of the most recognisable Australian trademarks. This sign is an excellent example of the genre. As the work of a sign-writer, rather than a lithographer or printer, the sign is also valuable as an example of this medium. Although sign-writing was the main form of advertising graphics for many decades, it is less well represented in graphic design collections than printed graphics. Charles Pickett, Curator, 2007 Source; collection.maas.museum/object/363575