The Final Pages
Phone directory famous for its whimsical ads prints last copies
FOR decades it could be found on the shelves of just about every home in Britain.
But the number is finally up for Yellow Pages – once the go-to directory for everything from accountants to zoos.
The final copies were delivered yesterday as the publisher went fully digital. They were handed out by Cold Feet actor James Nesbitt, who starred in several of the brand’s most memorable adverts, in Brighton where it was first printed in 1966.
Among those receiving a copy were two businesses that have been advertising in the telephone directory since the first issue. Since then a billion copies have been printed on a trillion pages and delivered to 27million addresses nationwide.
The first book was published by the Post Office, and today there are 104 editions for different areas.
Nesbitt, whose adverts include a scene where he frantically searches for a hairdresser after making a horrible job of cutting his niece’s hair, said: ‘The Yellow Pages have been very good to me in my career. You wouldn’t think you’d get such recognition from doing a few silly commercials but they really stuck with people.’
His appearances were not alone in finding an audience. The ministory featuring Norman Lumsden as a man who locates a rare copy of a book on fly fishing through Yellow Pages before revealing he’s the author, JR Hartley, was voted Britain’s fifth most popular advert in 2015. It made such a mark after its first broadcast in 1983 that an angling book subsequently written under the name became a bestseller.
Over the years the directory became useful for more than just its phone numbers – its size lent it to many purposes. Nesbitt joked: ‘They were part of the furniture. My mother used to hit me with one. My girlfriend used to hit me with one. It was useful for all sorts of things.’
In a Christmas advert broadcast in 1992, a small boy stands on a Yellow Pages so he can reach up to kiss a girl under the mistletoe.
But that trick would make little difference to the lad’s height nowadays. The famously fat book is drastically reduced in size as more companies switch to online advertising and set up their own websites. Yellow Pages can now be found online operated by marketing company Yell.
Chief executive Richard Hanscott said yesterday: ‘ It is with a hint of sadness that we hand out the last copies but we felt that this was the right time to focus ourselves on digital.’