Filming: Luv by Lyons Maid

David Bowie took part in the filming of an advertisement for the Luv ice lolly by Lyons Maid on 22 January 1969.

The advert was directed by Ridley Scott, who would later find fame for feature films including Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator.

Lyons made the lolly. And the clip is up on… wait for it… BowieNet. Strangely, but oh so Englishly, the director for that commercial was Ridley ‘Bladerunner’ Scott. By the way Gladiator is fantastic. Loadsa claret. Thin narrative. But it works, even if you can’t get too close to the characters. That Kubrick distancing thing again. Unmissable.

In the Lyons Maid commercial Bowie appears holding a lolly while ascending the stairs of a bus, and also as the singer and guitarist in the band.

On January 22 David had to report to 7 Eccleston Square for the filming of the commercial. A number of other young people had also been engaged to take part and together they were filmed aboard a London bus, running up and down the stairs, leaping out of the seats and generally giving the impression that after just one lick of LUV the world becomes a better place to live in. All this was accompanied by a pop group sound and a voice-over jingle…

Mercifully, the commercial lasted only thirty seconds. It was transmitted over most of the television areas, but was withdrawn after disappointing test-marketing of the product. David got twenty-five guineas for the day’s work and repeat transmissions brought him a further one-hundred-and-fifty pounds or so. I suspect that, perhaps in company with the other kids, he had hoped also to have got a free costume, but the next morning the production company rang in anger and panic to say that David’s costume was missing and they needed it for another commercial they were to shoot that day. It took some time to track down David and his booty, but with the aid of a fast taxi we eventually got the costume back to a not very happy director.