How many old TV commercials have survived?
In fact many (but not all by any means) survive, well back to the 1950s and 60s. Those made since, say, the mid-1970s tend to be held by the Museum of Film, Photography and Television in Bradford (this is the collection formerly maintained by the ITV Association, previously the ITV Companies Association), whilst many are still kept by the original advertisers or, more commonly, their advertising agencies. Yet more are in vaults at Pinewood studios, abandoned or forgotten by their owners (but Pinewood are not empowered to destroy them or release them to anyone else). Finally, some are in the care of the History of Advertising Trust (an under-funded organisation) whilst others have been catalogued and copied by an organisation called The Advertising Register (they were the people who supplied the ads for the BBC-2 programme Washes Whiter a few years ago). Copyright still subsists in these commercials as well as other rights of the actors, music and musicians employed, which is why it is
