National Commercial Five

One of five TV commercials filmed for the Japanese electronics firm, "National".  ABBA recorded new lyrics to "Fernando" stating how wonderful National was.

For this commercial there is a voiceover and at the end, Frida and Benny appear on a television in the apartment. Frida says, "Remember this whenever you hear their name" and Benny continues, "National is just slightly ahead of our time".

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 (Commercial 5 starts at 4 minutes, 10 seconds)