One of five TV commercials filmed for the Japanese electronics firm, "National" by advertising agency George Patterson. ABBA recorded new lyrics to "Fernando" stating how wonderful National was. The jingle lasted one verse and one chorus. For this commercial there were no voiceovers, you just see ABBA mime to the whole jingle.
The National (now Panasonic) adverts were a means of financing part of the 1977 Australian Tour. ABBA were paid just AUS$100,000 for all five commercials. The lyrics were written by a marketing person and in 1976 there was a competition where the public were invited to re-write two lines for the campaign. First prize was a trip to Sweden to visit ABBA in the studio.
The initial screenings of the commercials were advertised in the
newspapers first so that people knew when to catch them on the TV ("Watch
the Special to see the ads").
ABBA From the Beginning (ABBA D'ABBA Doo)
had 5 advert breaks, one for each of the commercials.
All FIVE National Commercials:
The variation of the "cat outfits". For the first and only time, the blue and yellow cat outfits were matched with white trousers, rather than with either the short or long white skirts.
