Australian
Screen

Clip description

In the kitchen of a small restaurant, while watching over boiling pots of soup, a cheerful singing chef (entertainer Bobby Limb) shares the secret of his delicious evening meals – he uses Nestlé's packaged soups. As the soup impresses the diners in his restaurant, they are converted to the quick, cheap and nutritious meal. A product shot ends the advertisement.

Curator’s notes

The setting for this advertisement – in the kitchen and dining areas of a small restaurant – provides the perfect context for the musical style used, where the diners and restaurant staff act as a chorus to support Limb’s singing chef. The catchy melody (from a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta) and Limb’s infectious cheer have you humming along by the end of the advertisement. As was common with many domestic products of the time, Nestlé's famous packaged soups are marketed on the advantages that they can be prepared within minutes, are an economical option, and are nutritious and delicious!

Entertainer Bobby Limb was a famous face and voice in Australia through the 1960s and 1970s, but here we see a youthful and cheeky Limb before the height of his fame. As the singing chef he is engaging and his facial expressions are especially endearing. The Singing Chef shows off Limb’s ability as a comic performer and a singer. Limb was one of Australia’s youngest band leaders and worked with a number of Australian jazz musicians before hosting the television show, ‘Bobby Limb’s Sound of Music’.