Made in Scotland, from Girders.

When I was a kid, we had a book and a tape of The Snowman. You would read along, or look at the pictures with the book, and listen to the tape. I think! But then the only part I remember having any words was the song, the rest was just music.

That just doesn't sound right though, it seems more likely that we had a film, but I clearly remember sitting in my gran's dining room listening to this song, and there was no TV there. Anyway, after that, there was a film, some of which you can see here. The song, you just heard was sung by a young boy called Aled Jones, and as I sang, I was always a bit jealous that I couldn't sing as well as he.

Well, now Scottish Drinks company Irn Bru have created a new advertising campaign for the run up to Christmas. I love it, I love the detailing, all the Scottish landmarks are in there. The original lyric was about "rousing up a mighty monster from it's sleep", as they flew over a whale in the sea, here they fly over Nessie. Great images, and it really captures the style of the original. Funny! I love it. And so does the creator of the original.

Doesn't he?

Don't believe everything you read in the papers.

Now Irn Bru have often courted controversy with their ads, but this one seems like quite a simple, tame, witty one.

Sadly, the powers that be have lost their sense of humour. Again. They seem to think that using a "popular children's character" is going to appeal to children, and that's a problem becuase Irn Bru is notoriously bad for you. Full of sugar and unpleasant ingredients. I don't actually like the drink, although it does work for curing hangovers, and I know people that swear by it for curing all ills and general life benefits.

Still, do you think this ad is targetting kids that love the original snowman, or do you think it's targetting people like me who grew up with it ? Here's a hint, it was shown at 2145.