Bisto is notable both for the age of its brand and for the advertising campaigns it has used. In 1919, the Bisto Kids (created by illustrator
Will Owen (1869–1957)) appeared in newspapers and soon became popular. The Bisto Kids were a boy and girl in ragged clothes, who were illustrated catching the aroma of Bisto on the breeze exhaling longingly, "Ah, Bisto!" The Bisto Kids were part of more elaborate advertising campaigns in later years. The Bisto Kids have not been featured in Bisto advertising since 1996. Many Bisto adverts shown on television through the years on
British and
Irish television are available on websites including
YouTube,
Dailymotion, Classic TV Adverts, Retro TV Adverts,
History of Advertising Trust,
Vimeo, and
TV Ark.
1930s In
Birmingham in the 1930s a competition was held to choose a name for the two Bisto twin characters, a boy and a girl who smell Bisto's gravy. The competition was won by Mr and Mrs Simmonds, who named the twins after themselves, calling them Bill and Maree.
1950s During the 1950s "Bisto For All Meat Dishes" was one of their first television advertisements.
1960s Adverts during the 1960s included "Pass The Gravy Pass The Bisto" and "Does Cooking Proud". At the end of the decade television adverts changed from monochrome to colour.
Bobby Moore featured in the first colour advert for Bisto gravy in 1969.
1970s Advert phrases during the 1970s included "Where there's meat there's Bisto" and "Browns, seasons and thickens all in one" in a series of family adverts shown on television with celebrities including
Gordon Banks,
Anita Harris,
Henry Cooper,
Jon Pertwee,
Billy Bremner,
Dick Emery,
Terry Wogan, and
Alan Ball.
1980s In 1984, RHM Foods launched a nationwide competition to find children to act the role of the Bisto Kids, the recurrent "The Bisto Kids of the Year Awards". The first ever competition was won by Hayley Griffiths and Jimmy Endicott from
Doncaster. They were six years old at the time and became the faces of Bisto, both for public relations and marketing events and also appeared in an advert shown on prime time TV to find the next Bisto Kids. Bisto sponsored the
ITV Telethon in 1988.
1990s Adverts for Bisto gravy during the 1990s included the
Dean Martin song
"Memories Are Made of This". Other phrases were "Real Gravy in No Time at All",
Vanessa Williams in a series of adverts called
Save the Best for Last for Bisto Best range (1993–1996), a Puts the Ahh into a Meal" series (1990–1992), and a series with
Julie Walters (1996–1998).
2000–present The company sponsors the
Bisto Book of the Year Awards in the
Republic of Ireland. The latest campaign for Bisto encourages families to sit up at the table for one night a week to eat 'proper' food. In 2025, Bisto entered into a brand partnership with
Aardman Animations cartoon characters
Wallace & Gromit. Characters from the films featured on Bisto products, with consumers offered the chance to win a
lab-grown blue diamond worth £1,500. A
pop-up gravy restaurant called "
The Gravy Boat" opened in
Paddington, London with a gravy-themed three course menu and "meet and greet" opportunities for diners to meet
Wallace,
Gromit, and
Feathers McGraw.{{cite news|url=https://www.talkingretail.com/products-news/grocery/bisto-reveals-new-partnership-with-wallace-gromit-30-01-2025/|title=Bisto reveals new partnership with Wallace & Gromit ==Ownership==