East Enders in Popular Culture - in Advertising

In Advertising

During the 1990s, whilst on a hiatus from EastEnders, Mike Reid starred in an advert for the soft drink Oasis, whose slogan at the time was "Open, pour, be yourself once more". In the advert, Reid, dressed as Frank, drank the beverage and trod in a cow pat, after which he took on a miserable disposition and exclaimed "Pat... Oh Pat, what have you done to me Pat?" in a blatant reference to his EastEnders alter ego.

In 1997, a BT commercial promoting its Friends and Family service featured ten former EastEnders stars. In the commercial, Letitia Dean calls nine former cast members; Susan Tully, Tom Watt, Leslie Grantham, Anna Wing, Oscar James, Linda Davidson, Peter Dean, Michelle Collins (in a scene shot in Paris to reflect the fact an international number could be included in the list - the advert itself was aired shortly after Cindy Beale was seen leaving on the Eurostar) and Bill Treacher (in a scene shot on an allotment to reflect the fact that one mobile number could be included). The BBC threatened BT with legal action, but the telecoms company released the advert for screening anyway. A BT spokesman told The Sun, "We don't take orders from the Beeb." The BBC withdrew its threat to sue after BT paid it an undisclosed five-figure amount.

Leslie Grantham also appeared in an advertisement for Radox Everfresh in the late 1990s. The first line of the commercial was "Not so Dirty Den now, eh?", and the final line was "Life after soap... no problem".