Well, the Yellow Pages are not happy, Jan. They just sent Darrell Lea a cease and desist letter after the delicious chocolatier launched an ad inspired by the iconic ‘Jan Not Happy’ ad of yesteryear, featuring the cranky boss we all know and love.
Darrell Lea’s ad, which will unfortunately be withdrawn, was truly a masterful tribute to the original Yellow Pages ad. It starred Deborah Kennedy reprising her role as the cranky boss perusing the yellow pages, only to discover that Jan forgot to place an ad in the phone book (the horror). The only difference from the original ad is that this time around the boss has a packet of Darrell Lea chocolate on hand, which calms her down enough to scream “no worries Jan!” Out the window instead.
In fact, Jan is the employee’s name. The monster is Jan’s boss, who is never happy
– Rob Stott (@Rob_Stott) May 30, 2019
A sweet tribute to classic Australian advertising, some would say. According to Sensis (the parent company of the Yellow Pages), however, Jan and his boss were “fucked to sell chocolate” in a final betrayal by Yellow Pages fans.
“To see the Yellow Pages brand, which is iconic and trusted by many Australians, and our beloved character Jan, being used by another company for commercial purposes is a total shock to us and our customers,” said James Ciuffetelli, Executive Managing Director of Pages Jaunes. , Recount Mumbrelle.
“This ad is so popular that we think we are sharing it with the Australian people, and we think it is fair to protect it from a drop in the price to sell chocolate.”
Omg ‘Not happy January!’ is back?!
Good game @DarrellLea_AU pic.twitter.com/AUEsTfry5K
– Kate Pattison (@katepatto) May 29, 2019
Australians don’t seem to feel the same way, though – most of the time people seem overjoyed to see how Jan and his boss are doing after all these years. And at the end of the day, they’re doing pretty well – Darrell Lea’s commercial reveals that the couple have aged extraordinarily well.
I mean, the original ad aired in the year 2000, and almost two decades later Deborah Kennedy looks almost exactly the same. Unlike the yellow pages.
Regardless, Darrell Lea has agreed to take the ad down, but for now you can still see it (along with the original) below.