Earlier this month, Tango made a glorious return to our TV screens for the first time since 2019 with a hilarious new take on its age-old brand platform – masterminded by agency of record VCCP.
Featuring a mock police raid on a suspected ‘dark berries lab’, an unsuspecting officer is exposed to dangerous levels of Tango, rendering him utterly incapacitated.
The hilarious new film marks VCCP’s second large-scale campaign for the Britvic-owned brand, after its boundary-pushing and awfully-risqué ‘Tanguru’ series.
Of particular note (if you’re under 16 stop reading), the controversial ‘Head Massager’ has to be held up as a hilariously cringe-inducing encapsulation of a young person’s worse nightmare (your parents finding out you do sex stuff, naturally).
Born out of Tango’s 1991 match made in heaven with WPP’s iconic HHCL (sadly no more since 2007), ‘You’ve Been Tango’d’ well and truly put the brand at the front and centre of British pop culture.
The agency’s impact on Tango’s fortunes cannot be underestimated – and it may not be entirely inaccurate to suggest that the inspired creative platform very much ‘made’ the brand.
‘Orange Man’ – 1992
This gem was really the only place we could’ve started the round-up – HHCL’s original 40-second masterpiece gave birth to the ‘You’ve Been Tango’d’ catchphrase, and naturally led to thousands of playground assaults up and down the country for years to come.
Formulated as something of an ‘anti-ad’ in direct contrast to Coke’s big budget dominance of soft drink TV commercials across the 80s, the ad became so controversial that it was eventually pulled from the air after a child suffered a burst eardrum from playground copycats.
Two milder variants were then released – one in which the orange man kisses his victim, and another in which he puts his hands to his mouth.
St. George – 1996
Garnering numerous awards, this highly ambitious spot kicked off marketing for Tango’s new Blackcurrant flavour – beginning as what appears to be a rather cheesy, corporate-style video, it builds into an astonishing cinematic crescendo involving hundreds of extras perched on the White Cliffs of Dover.
Widely lauded, this unexpected artistic masterpiece is perhaps one of the less controversial entries on this list, but its eye-watering £400,000 budget (in the mid 90s!) and lack of any slogan or logo makes it a truly unique entry into the British advertising pantheon.
Seemingly inoffensive, the ad did still make the top 10 list of the most complained about commercials that years, with offended parties citing its perceived xenophobia as cause for concern.
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Pipes – 2004
Frankly, it really isn’t hard to see why this one got banned. Featuring a man inexplicably wrapped in a carpet filled with oranges being smashed against a tree by several concrete pipes, this ad pushes Tango’s surreal slapstick style to a whole other level.
The ad was banned outright by the ASA even before a review could take place. The organisation cited fears over a repeat of the playground antics spawned by ‘Orange Man’, albeit this time with rather more serious consequences.
The ASA’s abrupt actions were perhaps a symptom of a wider struggle within British advertising regulation at the time – having only recently assumed control for the oversight of broadcast content.
Rival body the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC), criticised the move, saying: “The advert was not set on a building site or in any realistic setting that would suggest that the stunt was able to be copied or would normalise or condone the behaviour”.
Megaphone – 1998
Featuring a young, confused and very scared James Corden, this rather creepy series of ads was also eventually banned by the ASA amid concerns that obese children would be bullied as a result.
Despite being utterly hilarious, the fact that one of the spots ends with young Corden being forced-fed a bottle of Tango, the controversy they inspired is perhaps understandable when examined through an objective lens. (No matter how much we all hate James Corden.)
Other honourable mentions that can’t be left out, but that have perhaps been swallowed up by the sands of time have here been unearthed for your amusement, starting with:
Ultimate Horror
Coming as part of HHCL’s original run in the mid-90s, this ad is both horrific and confusing. At least he seems to be enjoying his drink. In this iteration, the iconic ‘orange man’ is usurped by an inexplicable monstrosity that seems to have an on-again-off-again relationship with its left foot.
I honestly have no idea what to say. But he’s definitely been Tango’d.
Megaphone (again)
We end our round up with a comparatively inoffensive entry – but like all the others it is undeniably great fun to watch and very memorable.
Outrageously silly and never in danger of taking itself seriously, Tango’s creative legacy is absolutely inspired and frankly a pleasure to watch and re-watch repeatedly.
By pushing the boundaries of TV advertising to its limits, HHCL catapulted a run-of-the-mill soft drink into one of the most recognisable brands of the past 30 years. With VCCP now on its second campaign for the Britvic flagship, it would appear that Tango’s unique legacy is in very safe hands – if ‘Bust’ is anything to go by.
