Babycham
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Babycham is the trade name of a light, sparkling perry invented by Francis Showering, a brewer in Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England; the name is now owned by Constellation Europe Limited. Launched nationally in the United Kingdom in 1953, the drink was marketed with pioneering television advertisements to appeal specifically to women. It was the first alcoholic product to be advertised on UK television, the campaign being launched in 1957, and was originally marketed as "Genuine champagne perry".[1]
Popular through the 1960s into the 1970s, the brand's appeal waned with the rise of wine and ready-mixed spirit drinks. 1996 saw a major relaunch of the brand and the reintroduction of its leaping chamois trademark,[1] a giant model of which can be seen outside the Shepton Mallet factory where it is produced. 1997 saw the reintroduction of Babycham Babe beauty contests that had been popular in the 1960s, the winner that year being Nell McAndrew.
[edit] Babycham in the media
Possibly indicative of its status at the time, it appeared as the butt of many jokes in the 1993 BBC comedy series The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, suggesting that it was a suitable drink for babies.
Anjelica Huston's character in Prizzi's Honor orders a Babycham, to the complete befuddlement of the bartender.
In The Young Ones 1982 episode, "Boring", Vyvyan Basterd (Adrian Edmondson) orders a Babycham – "Uh, mine's a Babycham" – from his mum who is bartending at a pub. In the 1984 "Summer Holiday" episode of the same BBC comedy series, Vyvyan attests that one sip of Babycham and he's anybody's. In the 1984 episode "Bambi", Griff Rhys Jones played a University Challenge presenter who, in addition to the Disney film and a video nasty sequel, had done the Babycham commercials, and is asked by Neil, "Do you really think they make it out of babies?".
A series of Babycham television spots featuring choreographer Charles Augins, best known for his role as "back-up" computer Queeg 500 in the Red Dwarf episode "Queeg", have reference made to them in the 1988 film The Firm (directed by Alan Clarke): a football hooligan jokingly tells his friend who is ordering drinks at the bar "Hey, I'll have a Babycham". The drink also featured in a dance hall scene in the Reggae film The Harder They Come.
Babycham is mentioned in the 1979 track "Saturday's Kids" by mod-revival band The Jam.
In Neil Jordan's 2005 film Breakfast on Pluto, in Segment 20, "A Fairy Tale," Kitten (Cillian Murphy) orders a Babycham in a London pub.
Babycham now lend its name to trainers produced by Dunlop [1]
