Nimble Bread

‘Diet’ bread who’d have thought of such a thing? well there was Nimble.

The advertising strap line was “Nimble is for girls like this: at their best in bikinis. Fit and slim, nimble and neat.”

The bread that did wonders for hot air balloons.

Summary

Nimble was launched in Britain in 1955 and marketed as “diet bread” – with the slogan “Real Bread . . . but lighter” – Nimble contained less starch and fewer calories than ordinary bread.

Newspaper advertisements at the time (1950’s) claimed you could eat “as many slices of Nimble as you eat of your usual bread, yet you’ll feel alert, on your toes”.

Originally priced at 7d a loaf, Nimble was available in white and brown loaves. White Nimble came in a red, white and blue wrapper, while Brown Nimble was in a red, white and brown wrapper.

Nimble was produced by Rank Hovis McDougall and became famous for it’s ads from 1968 featuring models riding in a red and white hot-air balloon (you would assume the idea was to emphasise the lighter bread) to the song I Can’t Let Maggie Go by Honeybus.

Where Did They Go?

The bread was made by Rank Hovis McDougall who underwent several changes of ownership. Despite this whilst the ads disappeared the bread didn’t. Nimble popped back up with a new advertising campaign in 1995 and then seemed to fall off the radar again as consumers fell out of love with it’s bland taste.

In 2006 Nimble was relaunched but since 2009 it’s now available in the bread aisle as Hovis Nimble. The new version, which we buy today still claims to be low in calories, with only 50 and 0.1g of fat per slice, but now promises to be more like ‘real’ bread in size and texture.

You can buy Hovis Nimble in white, wholemeal and malted wholegrain (how times change).

Obviously in today’s world advertising no longer focusses on women who are watching their weight, but at people who are following a healthier lifestyle.

Commercial Break