8. Renault Clio: Nicole and Papa
Few adverts enter into pop culture in the way this series of Renault Clio adverts did
The ad
Few adverts enter into pop culture in the way this series of Renault Clio adverts did. This one saw Nicole having a makeover in preparation for a meeting with French actor Vincent Cassel – and encountering her father as she meets her date. In total there were eight ‘episodes’ in this ad campaign, airing between 1991 and 1998. The final instalment was a spoof of The Graduate, and saw Nicole leave Vic Reeves at the altar and run away with Bob Mortimer.
The expert view
“This clearly defined a target audience for a car, and it worked. It’s eminently watchable for guys as well as girls, and you end up with a ‘playground phrase’ that everyone repeated.”
