Funny faces ad up

They say that sex sells - but it seems celebrities sell even better.

While young women in bikinis are traditionally used to flog us everything from tyres to soft drinks, experts have found the best way to part us from our money is with wit, charm and a famous face.

A review of British adverts this year found that the most popular campaign was the series of commercials for John Smiths bitter, featuring Phoenix Nights star Peter Kay.

The cream of the British advertising industry will be assembling at the Victoria and Albert museum tonight to view possibly the longest ad break in history. It contains the best 50 British commercials of the year, but there is barely an on-screen sex kitten in sight.

The list was drawn up by a panel of leading directors and advertising experts looking for imagination and selling power. It is laden with wellknown actors, comedy and startling special effects.

Steve Davies - chief executive of the Advertising Producers Association, which drew up the list - said: "The UK has probably the most sophisticated TV audience and most creative advertising industry in the world. So much thought and ingenuity goes into the creation of commercials that the use of sex just seems banal."

The Peter Kay adverts feature the comedian delivering a brutally blunt description of home safety to his scared daughter as he dines out; slicing through the pretensions of Sunday morning footballers by hoofing the ball "England style", and "bombing" in a professional diving competition.

"It's brilliantly funny, superbly acted and produced. But, more than that, it is actually highly effective in selling beer. It is the perfect nononsense advertising campaign," said Dave Waters, a leading advertising creative director and judge for the show.

Just as funny is an advert for Virgin Mobile featuring music producer Wyclef Jean. In an earlier advert he is tricked into signing a contract for "love" by a white-trash nymphomaniac. In the sequel, Wyclef manages to escape from her but ends up in jail, not daring to bend over to pick up his soap in the shower.

Surprisingly, given the risque content, the list has received the backing of Chancellor Gordon Brown who emphasised the serious side of advertising's contribution to the British economy. "Britain's producers and film technicians have become one of our greatest assets around the world," he said. Also nominated is a commercial for furniture manufacturer MFI, starring comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, and one for Yellow Pages that has Cold Feet star James Nesbitt cutting his niece's hair to save money.

There was no room in the list for either Gary Lineker or Jamie Oliver, both of whom appear in campaigns that are claimed to have made hundreds of millions of pounds worth of sales for Walkers Crisps and Sainsbury's.