Don't Take Away My Breakaway!
Are you old enough to remember the "Don't Take Away My Breakaway" TV adverts? Well, I certainly am, and for this post, I'm going to delve into the history of the Breakaway chocolate biscuit bar.
The first bars rolled off the production lines back in 1970, and were originally manufactured by Rowntree Mackintosh in the UK. In 1988, the company was acquired by Nestlé, who have been making them ever since.
The bar includes a wholemeal biscuit (similar to Digestive) and is covered in a thick layer of milk chocolate. It features a metallic style, chequered pattern embossed on top. However, for a time, a floral pattern was used during the 1980s.
Along with Club, Penguin and United, the Breakaway could be found in school lunchboxes across the UK. They were sold individually and in multi-packs, the latter being much more economical.
During the 70s, the Breakaway TV adverts featured the comedy actor Eric Idle, and were based on a classic sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus called "Nudge Nudge".
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1980s Adverts
There were numerous different TV adverts for the biscuit bar that aired during the 80s. Several featured the jingle "Don't take away my Breakaway". An ad featuring a cartoon with a red-haired young boy who is misbehaving, sees his mother singing "I'll take away your Breakaway".
A 1983 TV advert features a young lady wearing a pink jumpsuit with lots of zippers. She struggles to find her Breakaway, and a song accompanies her struggles with the line "Zipaway my Breakaway". The same ad also includes "Wipeaway" and "Chataway".
A 1987 TV advert featured a young Liverpudlian lad (Matthew Shaw) wearing his baseball cap sideways, which seemed to be a popular fashion statement at the time. Amusingly, he reveals that he is eating his sister's bar! A huge shadow of his angry sister appears on the wall behind him, towering over him, and the ad ends with the lad claiming "It's wicked!".
In another ad featuring the same young lad, he exclaims "grown-ups are weird", after the narrator asks him to repeat his description of Breakaway.
The wrapper design from the 1980s
Breakaway Chocolate Twist Shortcake
In 2016, Nestle launched a Breakaway Chocolate Twist Shortcake, which included a shortcake biscuit with a milk chocolate base and white topping. Sadly, it was discontinued.
Breakaway Today
Breakaway is currently made by Nestlé. Today's wrapper is still yellow, but with a more modern, blue logo. I prefer the original one myself, and this is the design that has stuck in my head ever since!
I hope you have enjoyed reading about Breakaway and watching the old TV adverts once again. You may also like our post Whatever Happened To Drifter Chocolate Bar?
See our image of Breakaway Caramac
