British Rail 'relax' by Saatchi & Saatchi

It all came together perfectly in this commercial which united the seemingly dissonant elements.

A chess-playing Hassidic Jew – a familiar touch from the eccentric but indulged director Tony Kaye – blended with a soundtrack of redneck blues, discovered by the then Saatchi & Saatchi senior creative Tim Mellors while on a shoot in Texas.

Beautifully shot in sepia monochrome, everything in the film combines to create a languorous mood.

Alas, the advertising failed to match the product with passengers complaining that the commercial bore little resemblance to their own experiences of travelling on BR.

This article was first published on Campaign Work