[André]

I was thinking about one thing when I displayed smurfs on the BP shelves.

On the picture you see all smurfs that was made before 1976. Meaning the ones in the 1975 Bully catalogue.

All these have one thing in common. All smurfs made then did not have either Schleich- or Bully-markings. Only Peyo-markings. A lot of smurfs used in promotion only have peyo markings, since they were made for other companies.

We know Schleich says in their book they in the beginning made the smurfs for BP. And that for me would explain why the first ones did not have any Schleichmarkings. They also write´that later because of the success they started producing smurfs to sell on their own.

I almost seems similair with Bully. And that would then explain why they made unmarked smurfs in the beginning. We know they made smurfs for Waldbaur without Bullymarkings.

So I think the reason Bully got the old Schleichmolds could have been that Peyo wanted also these to be used in the BP promotion. So then Bully removed the emblems. So the reason was maybe not initially that Bully wanted to make these to sell themselves. ???

Approximatly the same time as the movie is made Bully starts to mark the smurfs with their companyname.

But I have other figurines made by Bully before 1976 and they also are unmarked, so it could be that they just didn´t think it was necessary??

[André]

But since I don´t think the Waldbaursmurfs were used in the BP promotion and we have a very nice picture from the ad Lia found, it probably is most correct to display it like this. With smurfs used in 1976/77, and smurfs we know was used in the BP promotion in Holland then.
I added the spy also since the add says that one is the new one. Notice the red inside of the cape which I believe was made by Bully then.

I don´t have the correct shelf 1. It is actually a spare shelf 3, but thanks to Lias picture of shelf 1, I printed out the correct dutch smurfnames used by BP at that time. Only until I find a shelf 1 off course.

[Lia]

WOW!!

You did a splendid job André

Lia

[smurfowen]

Smurfs
A family was born . . .
Originally created by a Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford in 1958 who was searching
for a catchy name for a ‘family’ of new cartoon characters. Pierre, or Peyo as he later
became known as, thought that ‘Schtoumpfes’ (Flemish for thingamabob) was an
ideal name. The characters quickly became popular and appeared in comic strips,
books, films in not just Belgium but all across Europe. In Italy they were known as
Puffi, in Spain as Pitufos, in Germany Schlumpfe and Smurfs in the UK.
A report was commissioned by BP Holland in May 1969 to do a serious study of the
phenomenon from the Dutch Institute of Psychological Research and on the basis of
their findings the company decided to bring these small blue creatures to their aid.
National Benzole and Smurfs join forces . . .
Between November 1977 and February 1978 (actually reduced to January 1978 due
to industrial action) a pilot was run at 7 National Service Stations in the London area.
The figurines were sold at £0.36p and two were available free based on the collection
of vouchers.
On the 20th May 1978 National Benzole (with the permission of Peyo) introduced
Smurf advertising to the UK at its service stations and TV (first TV advert broadcast
on 22nd May) / radio and press publicity campaigns got under way. The company kept
the Smurf name since it suited a new advertising slogan for service and fun,
“National - Service with a Smurf!” This was the first time a company had used
character advertising in such a way. Besides music and publishing rights, National
Benzole held total control of Smurf merchandising in the UK. A week after the
advertising campaign started by National, the pop record, lying in 78th place, jumped
to 10, then 7, then 5 and finally to 2 where it stayed for 7 weeks.
The smurf figures were offered for sale at a recommended price of £0.36p allowing
the dealer a gross margin profit of 15% per sale. However some sites did offer them
initially at a higher price (the highest noted was £0.47p). Not all National dealer sites
joined the campaign initially but by August 1978 90% of National Dealer sites had
signed up to the promotion. Smurf stickers were offered free at service stations.
Although originally introduced as a marketing gimmick to boost retail sales, with
National Benzole capitalising on Smurf popularity, producing a wide variety of items
such as village building sets, jigsaws, T-shirts, stationery and confectionery.
The campaign run through to the Moscow Olympics in 1980, for which special Smurf
sports characters were produced. It is believed after September 1978 there were
some promotional campaigns to collect vouchers for free figurines. During 1979
special edition Smurf figurines were produced for each month of the year (e.g. a
Valentine’s one in February).
There was a slight hitch in the campaign in October 1978 due to fears of lead in the
paint and the dangers of children putting the figurines in their months. However the
campaign got a re launch with it clear that the paint used on the figurines was lead
free.
The mass appeal of the Smurfs, led by Papa Smurf, saw the characters escalate from
being just collectible figurines to becoming champions of road safety, child safety,
health, dental hygiene and of good social behaviour. The Smurfs provided a startling
image catching the attention of motorists and their families, and causing queues at
petrol stations that ensured that National was able to hold its own through the highly
competitive trend the market was taking