The best adverts of the 1980s

Levi's ad
(Image credit: Levi's)

It was a decade that saw cuts, strikes, Thatcherism, Reaganomics, Chernobyl, the AIDS epidemic and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Beyond the austerity, the possibility of prosperity in cities came in its wake. And, with this, the birth of the 'yuppie'.

In this new greed-is-good era a multitude of TV channels, across terrestrial and cable, gave companies the chance to advertise globally to a new generation hooked on MTV, big hair, neon and PCs, who were driving consumerist culture.

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Antonia Wilson
Freelance writer and editor

Antonia Wilson is a freelance writer and editor. Previous roles have included travel reporter for the Guardian, and staff writer for Creative Review magazine, alongside writing for The Observer, National Geographic Traveller, Essentialist and Eco-Age, among others. She has also been a freelance editor for Vogue and Google, and works with a variety of global and emerging brands on sustainability messaging and other copywriting and editing projects — from Ugg and Ferragamo to Microsoft and Tate Galleries.

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