Silentnight: My First Bed (2003)

***My First Bed*** is an advert that was created for the Silentnight product, My First Bed. In this advert, Hippo and Ducky's children - making their debut appearance on television - have to be on their best behavior so they can sleep in early in their fun new beds.

## Plot

The advert begins with the Hippo and Duck family in the kitchen eating dinner at the dinner table. Ducky notices that the kids are not eating their dinner - Dee-Dee and Hugo are picky about their food, while Henry is just playing with his food. Ducky convinces the kids to eat soon, or they won't go to bed early. In that instant, Dee-Dee and Hugo both start eating their dinner quickly, while Henry decides to eat his baby food after watching Dee-Dee and Hugo. Hippo smiles proudly at Ducky for getting the kids to eat.

Later, Hippo is in the sitting room, about to hang up a painting with Henry in the room watching him as he does. Just then, Dee-Dee and Hugo run into the sitting room, playing a game of tag, with Dee-Dee chasing Hugo. Henry gets excited and joins in the game, chasing Dee-Dee and Hugo. Hippo tells the kids to settle down, "...or it'll be no early night!". And as soon as the kids had heard him, they all immediately sat down on the floor to quietly play their snakes and ladders board game laying out on the floor, so they can behave.

Later, when Ducky is sweeping at the foot of the stairs, she decides to check on the kids. When she gets to their bedroom to see if they're misbehaving again, she sees that they've all gone to sleep in their fun new beds from Silentnight's "My First Bed" brand - the reason why they wanted to go to bed early while it's still daylight, as Ducky explains to the audience that their beds have fun options and features, as well as having the same Miracoil mattresses like her and Hippo's bed. As she lectures the viewers, she puts away Hugo's backpack in the wheeled storage bin under his bed, and helps Henry sort his Play Pal letters on the frame of his bed. Soon, Hippo enters the bedroom to give Dee-Dee her heart-shaped pillow, so he can help Ducky make sure that the kids are ready for a long silent night's sleep.

The advert ends with Hippo and Ducky behind the "My First Bed" logo as they each say the slogan: "Sleep tight. Have a silent night."

## Gallery

*Main article: Silentnight: My First Bed (2003)/Gallery*
## Transcript

*Main article: Silentnight: My First Bed (2003)/Transcript*
## Trivia

* This advert uses a blend of traditional animation and CGI. The same technique was done on the earlier "Miracoils" advert.
* To date, this is the first and only known Silentnight advert to feature Hippo and Duck's kids.
	+ However, they made an appearance in the "Play Pal Pairs" Flash game that was on the now-defunct My First Bed website.
	+ They can also be seen on the walls of the Big Pyjama Room at Alton Towers.
* Various sources state that there is more than one advert for My First Bed, probably those that also feature Hippo and Ducky's children, but it is neither confirmed nor denied.
* The dinner scene at the beginning takes place at 5:00 PM, according to the clock on the wall.
* At the beginning of the commercial, Hippo's "I Believe in Miracoils" song from the earlier "Miracoils" advert can be heard, possibly from the television in the sitting room. However, if you listen close enough, and do a few comparisons with both versions in each advert, you can tell that this is an entirely different recording of the Miracoils song.
* Dee-Dee can be seen sitting on a stack of books on her chair due to her short height. This is similar to what Chicken Little does in one of the deleted scenes from 2005 movie *Chicken Little*, called "Cooking with Klaus", even though it is coincidental; see here.
* When the shot changes from the wide shot of the family sitting at the table to the POV of Ducky, showing only Hippo and the kids, if you look close enough, you can see Hugo smiling before he starts frowning again. This could probably be an attempt for him to please Ducky; see here.
* When the kids are sleeping, the sound of high-pitched snoring is heard; it is most likely coming from Henry.
* Three frames from the advert are on the Trademarkia website.

## Goofs

* In the first shot of the advert, Henry has his right arm resting on the tray of his highchair, but by the next shot, his arm is now resting off of the side of the highchair.
* In the first shot of the advert, Henry sticks his hand into his bowl of baby food, and pulls it out with his hand covered in baby food; but right before the first shot cuts to the second shot, if you look close enough, Henry's hand isn't covered in the baby food.
* At the beginning of the sitting room scene, Henry is shown with his blankie, but when he is playing snakes and ladders with his siblings, his blankie is nowhere to be seen; however, it does reappear with him in the kids' bedroom at the end.

## References

1. ↑ Henry can be seen turning his head away from Hippo, as you can see here.
2. ↑ Throughout the advert, sunlight can be seen shining in through the windows, and birds can heard chirping.
3. ↑ A lot can change in 70 years, but Silentnight's commitment to quality and innovation has made it a British manufacturing success story - TheBusinessDesk

## External Links

* AdForum
* AdsSpot
* YouTube:
	+ Upload by The Hall of Advertising  (**NOTE:** This copy is zoomed in to the 4:3 aspect ratio and the audio is off-sync.)
	+ Airing on Channel Four by TheLuckystar71
	+ Airing on Channel Four by Automaton #1
	+ Airing on Channel Four by Automaton #2
* Early Commercials by Jason Guest on Vimeo, featuring the advert
* Silentnight launches children’s bed range - MarketingWeek
* News on the advert - Bermuda Shorts