Not Happy Jan
The copywriter will tell you it was carefully crafted, but urban myth tells us it was ad-libbed by the talent on the day. Regardless, three words became embedded in the vocabulary of Australians in the late 90’s and the phrase “Not Happy Jan” became synonymous with yellow pages advertising.
For those old enough to remember the BG era (before google), the Yellow Pages was the main advertising medium to find businesses of all descriptions. Walk into most businesses today and you would be lucky to even see yellow pages, or if they do, its most likely propping up a computer screen.
In its day Yellow Pages advertising was critical to business success. I recall one of my first jobs in marcomms was reading through two full pages of listings and ensuring the details were correct. One number wrong could spell disaster for the business and the big discussion at senior levels was “do we consider the extra $200 to add a spot colour to our name listing!
Listed in numerous best ads of all time lists, “Not Happy Jan” along with the “Gogo mobile” delivered a number of advertising gongs for Yellow Pages in its time.
If you are too young to remember, then sit back and enjoy these copywriting classics…
Director of Accounts