Nestle scraps Gold Blend couple ads

The Gold Blend love saga has finally come to an end, after 11 years and three couples, with Nestlé deciding to axe the latest will-they-won’t-they series of ads after only one execution was aired.

The ad featured Danish blonde Simone Bendix playing a feisty photographer opposite actor Neil Roberts, who appeared as a young businessman.

The initial icy atmosphere between them melts as she gets her shots. At the end of the session he asks: “How close were you?”. Her enigmatic reply is “Very close”.

Nestlé has confirmed it will not continue with the “series” style of romantic ads following a fresh approach to the advertising of all Nescafé coffees.

A new ad through Publicis called Open Up, which has also run on the continent, will act as an umbrella campaign to the coffee brands such as Nescafé Original and Gold Blend.

The Gold Blend campaign, through McCann-Erickson, started with its first couple played by Sharon Maughan and Tony Head in 1987.

Louise Hunt and Mark Aiken played the second pair of coffee lovers from 1993 to last year.