This is one of a large collection of films made by Rowntree’s of York (now Nestlé).  Most of the films came via the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, based at the University of York.  Other films have come from different sources, such as Ken Clough, a former engineering designer for Rowntree who filmed many of their manufacturing processes.  The vast bulk of the films are adverts for their confectionary products: including Rolo, Black Magic, Toffee Crisp, Smarties, Milky Bar,...

This is one of a large collection of films made by Rowntree’s of York (now Nestlé).  Most of the films came via the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, based at the University of York.  Other films have come from different sources, such as Ken Clough, a former engineering designer for Rowntree who filmed many of their manufacturing processes.  The vast bulk of the films are adverts for their confectionary products: including Rolo, Black Magic, Toffee Crisp, Smarties, Milky Bar, KitKat, Dairy box and many other brands made between 1929 and 1990.  The earliest one of the adverts is Mr York of York, Yorks, the first animated advertisement to be made, in 1929, with synchronised sound - also online.   A general overview of Rowntree’s and advertising can be found in the Contexts for Mr York of York, Yorks (1929) and Tokens (1962-63).  

After Eight has been advertised on TV since 1963.  The logo, which appears in the early television adverts, was originally based on a silver antique baroque clock.  It quite quickly became established as the leading brand of mint chocolate, today accounting for one out of every two mint chocolates consumed (IRI UK value sales data; 52 w/e 7th November 2009).  The first major launch by Rowntree in the 1960s, appearing in 1962, After Eight (originally with the additional title ‘thin mints’) fit in well with the relative affluence of the post-war boom.  With more children from working class backgrounds getting to university, there was more aspiration for a more middle class lifestyle.  By the same token, the middle class had always sought to differentiate themselves from those considered to be lower class.  Hence the rich sophisticated lifestyle shown in the adverts, with posh dinner parties, would have a wide appeal.  This dinner party connection has been pushed in adverts ever since.

This class differentiation was sent up by the Two Ronnies in their famous 1960s comedy sketch on class with John Cleese; and the associated aspirations were equally parodied by Mike Lee’s play Abigail's Party a decade later.  An advertising poster from around the same period has an elegant looking woman holding a drink, with the caption: “a woman's place is in the home, eating After Eight and looking beautiful".  It is little wonder that feminism took off in the 1960s.

In the 1920s and 30s Rowntree branched out into the ‘old’ empire: Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa – with mixed results.  Rowntree's were already ahead of Cadbury-Fry in their investment in research and development, and by 1955 Rowntree’s 19,000 employees was just short of the 20,000 employed by their giant competitors.   In the 1950s Rowntree’s focused on expanding its market in the US, using KitKat as a spearhead, and working with US enterprises such as the Chunky Chocolate Corporation.  It looked to markets in the Far and Middle East and Latin America as well as Western Europe.   In the 1960s, with a static market in the UK, they moved more into Europe, where they had already established a presence in Germany, under the direction of George Dickinson.  Rowntree were hindered by tariffs in Europe, but their desire to be a part of free market agreements was hindered when the French President, Charles De Gaulle, blocked British membership of the EEC in 1963.  Many of the key products were being made in Germany by the mid 1960s. 

In 1969, when Rowntree’s merged with Mackintosh, 36% of its sales were in markets outside the UK, becoming 49% by 1976.  They were always looking to take over other companies: in the US they bought up various smaller snack enterprises.   The 1980s, when the Thatcher and Reagan free market policy was in full swing, saw a boom in takeovers and mergers – the rise of corporatism.   In 1985 sales of KitKat reached a record 5 million eaten every day, and there was a 6.4% increase in profits to a pre-tax level of £79.3m.  It isn’t surprising then that Jacob-Suchard (already owning Terry’s) made a bid for Rowntree’s in April 1988.  The bid was rejected, but it led to another bid just two months later from another Swiss giant confectioner, Nestlé, which was accepted; paying more than double the value of the shares at the time.   Although not all were happy with the takeover: some of the small shareholders, holding 10% of all shares, had worked for Rowntree’s all their working life and opposed the deal.

Nestlé, the world's largest food and beverage firm, was founded by Henri Nestlé, a Swiss pharmacist, who established the Nestlé brand in 1866 with the hope of benefiting society – motives not too dissimilar to Joseph Rowntree Snr.  He produced the first milk-cereal food for children.  As well as expanding into many other product lines,  Nestlé's have continued with dietetic foods for children, especially breast milk substitute – over which there has been a great deal of controversy. (It isn’t easy to find a ‘neutral’ overview on this issue, although the Wikipedia entry covers both sides.  Otherwise the Ethical Consumer Research Association (ECRA) has information on its website Ethical Consumer.)

At present the Nestlé site in York is being redeveloped, creating an estimated nearly 600 new jobs with new homes, leisure facilities, offices and shops, with the aim of safeguarding  the future of its remaining 1,800 employees – see also the Context for Rowntree’s Sports Day (c.1947)

References

Paul Crystal, Chocolate: the British Chocolate Industry, Shire, 2011.
Paul Crystal and Joe Dickinson, A History of Chocolate in York, Remember When (Pen & Sword Books), 2012.
Robert Fitzgerald, Rowntree and the Marketing Revolution 1862-1969, Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Joe Murphy, The History of Rowntree’s in Old Photographs, York Publishing Services, 2007.