How to Get Ahead in Advertising Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

How to Get Ahead in Advertising Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 22, 2025

Bruce Robinson's "How to Get Ahead in Advertising" (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include new program with Bruce Robinson and Richard E. Grant and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Note: The text below was first used in our review of Arrow Video's release of Withnail and I, produced in 2014. How to Get Ahead in Advertising was included in it.

Richard E. Grant is perfectly cast as Denis Dimbleby Bagley, an overworked advertising professional who has a terrible time developing an effective campaign for a supposedly terrific new acne cream. Unable to deal with the pressure, Denis suffers an emotional collapse that produces a large and incredibly annoying talking boil on his neck. The boil quickly begins manipulating Denis’ body in ways that initially only annoy his wife, Julia (Rachel Ward, Against All Odds, Sharky's Machine), but later seriously complicates his relationship with her and many of their best friends. As time passes, the boil then completely takes over Denis’ body and then changes his personality.

Bruce Robinson’s sophomore effort, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, may look utterly ridiculous at times, but a lot of truths are spoken in it. In fact, virtually all of its observations about the industry its main protagonist is a part of are still relevant today.

How to Get Ahead in Advertising is divided into two uneven parts. In the first, the focus of attention is on Denis’ collapse and the ensuing dramatic character transformation. Here, the man frequently looks like a drug addict who hasn’t had his fix in weeks and is struggling to control his body. Grant is terrific, but it has to be said that many of his facial expressions as well as the hilarious overreactions are essentially borrowed from the nutty character he played in Robinson’s directorial debut, Withnail and I

In the second part, Denis acquires a completely different identity. After a series of unsuccessful attempts to remove it, the boil takes over Denis’ body and transforms him into an outspoken cynic who loves to prove why his opinion is always the right one. Within the context of the narrative these opinions are supposed to be incredibly easy to dismiss, but many of them, and specifically the most extreme ones, accurately describe how corporate advertising shapes up people’s perceptions and beliefs.

For a while the over-the-top rants work well, but eventually they become predictable and lose their effectiveness. It has to be said, however, that a wider range of targets almost certainly would have made How to Get Ahead in Advertising a lot easier to critique because they would have been impossible to introduce without various political overtones. As it is, How to Get Ahead in Advertising goes as far as it can to be effective as a comedy and at the same time force one to think about the different ways one is carefully trained to act and react as a consumer.

Robinson clearly did not have a massive budget to work with, but his management of space and time is excellent. He was assisted by cinematographer Peter Hannan, who also collaborated with him on Withnail and I.

A surprisingly diverse and effective soundtrack features extracts from Camille Saint Saens' Symphony No. 3, Charles-Marie Widor's Symphony No. 5, Pete Townshend’s “My Generation”, and The Smiths's “Oscillate Wildly”, amongst others.

How to Get Ahead in Advertising Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, How to Get Ahead in Advertising arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

A little over a decade ago, Arrow Video introduced a 2K restoration of Withnail and I in this box set, which also included a 2K restoration of How to Get Ahead in Advertising. Criterion's release brings the same 2K restoration to America.

I still think that How to Get Ahead in Advertising looks wonderful after it was restored in 2K. It has a very attractive, very solid organic appearance. It is an accurate appearance, too. While there are a few areas of the film that produce small density fluctuations, all of them inherited, delineation, clarity, and depth remain very pleasing. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. Color reproduction and balance are good. However, this is the only area where I feel that some small yet meaningful improvements can be made to strengthen the dynamic range of the visuals. Image stability is outstanding. The entire film is spotless. (Note: This is s a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

How to Get Ahead in Advertising Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Good music is nicely used to strengthen the desired atmosphere. However, the dynamic variety is not going to impress audiophiles because the film's original sound design is pretty basic. All exchanges are clear, sharp, and easy to follow. There are no balance issues or other age-related anomalies to report in our review.

How to Get Ahead in Advertising Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original theatrical trailer for How to Get Ahead in Advertising. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Bruce Robinson and Richard E. Grant - in this new program, Bruce Robinson and Richard E. Grant recall their collaboration on How to Get Ahead in Advertising and relationship with HandMade Films in the 1980s. Also, there are some particularly interesting comments about the quality of the writing that shaped up the quality of the dialog in the film. The program was produced for Criterion in 2025. In English, not subtitled. (29 min).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by David Cairns and technical credits.

How to Get Ahead in Advertising Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bruce Robinson was, and probably still is, an outspoken socialist who channeled a lot of his frustrations with Margaret Thatcher and her politics in his sophomore effort, How to Get Ahead in Advertising. Some of the satirical material that carries these frustrations is pretty good, but for reasons that directly contradict what Robinson believed, which makes viewing How to Get Ahead in Advertising an interesting experience. (The same can be said about many of Ken Loach's political films and their compromised messaging). Criterion's release brings to America a good 2K restoration of How to Get Ahead in Advertising that Arrow Video introduced on the other side of the Atlantic a little over a decade ago. RECOMMENDED.