Life imitating art: Cyclist ‘mimicks’ classic Hovis ‘Boy on the Bike’ TV ad by pushing bike up the same cobbled Dorset 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 has now been snapped pushing his bike up the same street this morning
It was the cobbled street made famous by a beloved British television advert that captured the nation’s heart.
The Hovis ‘Boy on a Bike’ TV commercial aired in 1973 and showed a young lad valiantly pushing a bike loaded with bread up the steep hill of a post-war town.
And now, 50 years after it was first broadcast, a cyclist has been pictured mimicking the heartwarming commercial in an example of life imitating art.
The man was snapped on Wednesday morning as he battled against the snow-covered street of Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset.
Although the street looks different today than it did 50 years ago, with its houses caked in a dusting of snow.
A man is pictured struggling to push his bike up the cobbled street of Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset on Wednesday following a dusting of snow
The street was the setting for 1973’s iconic Hovis ‘Boy on a Bike’ commercial (pictured), which saw a young lad battling to push his bike up the steep street before riding down it
The Hovis commercial – voted Britain’s most iconic – was supposed to be set in a fictional Yorkshire town. But Shaftesbury, Dorset, was picked as it has one of the steepest streets in Britain.
Once the young boy reaches the top of the hill, he excitedly freewheels back down with a smile on his face, declaring in a heavy Yorkshire accent: ‘T’was like taking bread to top of the world. T’was a grand ride back though.’
The advert was later parodied by numerous comedians, most famously by The Two Ronnies.
Celebrated director Ridley Scott launched his career with the original advert, and remastered it a few years ago with the British Film Institute (BFI) national archive.
Speaking of the advert in 2019, the Alien director said: ‘I’m thrilled that the “Boy on the Bike” is still regarded as such an iconic and heart-warming story which 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 advert.’
In the poll it beat Cadbury’s 2007 advert featuring a ‘gorilla’ drumming along to Phil Collins’s hit In The Air Tonight, and the 1983 Yellow Pages commercial featuring elderly fictional author JR Hartley using the phone directory to hunt down a copy of his own book.
Research firm Kantar conducted the poll.
Other adverts that made the top five included John Lewis’s 2010 Always A Woman and Coca-Cola’s 1971 classic featuring young people singing I’d Like To Teach The World to Sing.
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