The Chilean advertisement screened in March and April on more than 80,000 occasions had a staggering spontaneous recall score, independent research carried out by Opinion Research Business showed. The ad came in third behind The Sun and Renault and ahead of Guinness, Siemens and Audi.

Researchers also found that 40 per cent of respondents said their perception of Chilean fruit improved after seeing the advertisement and in the 35-45 year age range this figure rose to 56 per cent.

'These are some of the most positive responses I have ever seen from a survey for one of our clients,' said Andrew Rao, research manager at Pearl & Dean which screened the Chilean ad. 't is remarkable that an unbranded proposition should generate such enthusiasm and Chile's ad was certainly up against fierce competition on the reel. I believe the fact that Chilean fruit was unchallenged by any other advertiser in the food category played a part in that, but also the easy distinction of the ad to those around it on the reel would have been significant.' Minimum viewing figures were exceeded easily. Peal & Dean guaranteed 2million admissions but that number was in fact tripled to six million giving Chilean fresh fruit much more exposure than originally planned.

UK cinemas are experiencing a boom in audience numbers, which ran at a 27-year high for the first quarter of 2002.