One of the first places I ever found offering free downloads of TV adverts was Andy Savage’s Favourite UK Television Adverts. Andy started in January 2002 with 12 adverts in Real Player format. Over time he moved over to MPEG4 and WMV format and added another 90 or so ads. Andy’s digitised his ads from his videotapes – which he recorded off the TV from his home in Derby, UK. His web site address is featured somewhere in each clip. Most are under 1MB which gives you an idea of the quality of the film. Obviously this page was established before broadband took off. It was also before advertising agencies started to make their work available for viewing online through Adforum and other such sites.
The last clip to be added to Absolutely Andy’s Favourite UK Television Adverts was at the end of 2003. Andy’s run out of time to keep it all up. Thanks Andy for keeping the site online.