People Will Always Need Coal

Deliriously kitsch recruitment ad for the implausibly glamorous world of coalmining.

This outrageously OTT recruitment ad for South Wales miners is an unexpected delight. In a pitch apparently designed to outdo contemporary army recruitment films, the ad promises a non-stop world of macho glamour, fun (Rock'n'Roll! Skiing! Guns! Squash!), romance and sex. And there's a song, too: "Hey there, miner / Living life the way you want to be / C'mon now, miner / There's money - lots of money and security". The film appears to date from around 1975; in less than a decade, that confident promise of security would have a hollow ring.

Though the film was certainly sponsored by the National Coal Board, it seems unlikely to have been made by the NCB's in-house film unit - which may or may not have taken a less exaggerated approach, but would surely have preferred to use at least some moving image, rather than just a montage of stills enlivened by swift cutting and dynamic rostrum work.