Howard Brown
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Howard Sebastian Brown (born 1966) is an employee of HBOS plc, which own both Bank of Scotland and Halifax Bank (previously the Halifax Building Society) in the United Kingdom. He was born in Sheldon, Birmingham, England. He is known for his appearances in Halixfax television advertisements, often singing and dancing.
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[edit] HBOS Marketing Campaign
Howard rose to fame when Halifax Bank decided to involve their staff in a new series of adverts. The campaign was the brainchild of DLKW Creative Directors Malcolm Green and Gary Betts, who had previously found fame when they launched the Gary Lineker Walkers Crisps campaign. Auditions were held and Howard was selected by Green and Betts to spearhead the new advertising drive for the bank in 2000. This featured several employees singing about the bank to the tunes of well known pop music tracks in films directed by top directing talent from the world of pop promos. Howard was the first and most popular of these employees, and has gone on to star in several adverts for Halifax, both in person and in animated form.
[edit] Advert Appearances
His debut advert saw him sing "Extra", a song with new lyrics by Malcolm Green, set to the tune of "Sex Bomb" (originally by Mousse T featuring Tom Jones).
Other adverts he has appeared in include:
- In 2002 - Singing - "I'll Give You Extra". To the tune of: "Angel" by Shaggy.
- In 2005 - Singing - "It's a first, at last, My Extra Thing". To the tune of: "You’re the First, the Last, My Everything" by Barry White.
He has also made cameo appearances in other adverts featuring other employees of HBOS:
- In 2003 - Singing - "Just a Little" by Liberty X with financial promotions in the lyrics
- In 2003 - Singing - "Saving". To the tune of: "Sailing" by Gavin Sutherland.
- In 2006 - Singing - "We Give You Extra". To the tune of: "Nu Flow" by Big Brovaz.
- In 2007 - Singing - "Extra". To the tune of Aretha Franklin's Think.
- In 2008 - Singing - "Something Good". To the tune of Hermans Hermits' Something Good.
In January 2002 an animated version of Brown began appearing in adverts, voiced by Paul Shearer, a London actor and created in conjunction with Paris-based animation stars Numero Six. However, the real Howard Brown has continued to appear in the live-action adverts.
Howard told Reuters that "Being in the advertising campaign has changed my life tremendously. I sometimes feel like a popstar. People recognise me everywhere I go"
The campaign itself has proved to be one of the most popular and effective ad campaigns ever produced in the UK. In 2008, Green and Betts departed DLKW. This news was quickly followed by Halifax deciding to review their advertising arrangements with the agency.
Subsequently, Malcolm Green has been unveiled as the writer and director of a musical film to commemorate two Human Rights anniversaries. The work starred top British soprano Natasha Marsh and had it's premiere performance at London's House of Commons.
[edit] Music and Television Career
In 2005, Brown released a cover of You’re the First, the Last, My Everything by Barry White as a charity single peaking at number 13 in the UK charts.
In 2003, Howard had a cameo in "The Office" Christmas special. Howard played himself alongside Ricky Gervais as David Brent, and "Bubble" from Big Brother. The three men took part in a Nightclub promotion 'Blind Date' game which was hosted by Mike McLean. Howard and Bubble were getting on much better with the female contestant than Brent, much to his dissatisfaction. When Brown sat down, McLean shouted at the audience "Who gives you extra?" to which they replied "Who Who Who?". This is a reference to the Halifax advert which sings "Who gives you extra?" to the tune of Who Let the Dogs Out? by the Baha Men. Brown does not actually sing in that particular advert as it was performed by Matt Thornfield who only appeared in cartoon form, however, this was one of the most memorible lyrics from the advertising campaign.
