A CUSTOMER of Specsavers Swiss Cottage is the star of a new ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’ ad, which is based on her own visual mishap while lingerie shopping.

Amanda Brady from West Hampstead won a nationwide competition run by Specsavers to recreate the most popular real life Should’ve moment, as voted for by the public, into a 30-sec ad. She starred in the ad alongside professional actors.

Earlier this year Ms Brady had been trying on bras in a department store in Oxford Street. On realising she didn’t have the bra size she wanted in a particular style and colour she left the cubicle in the search of a member of staff to help.

Ms Brady said; ‘I’m long-sighted, so I have glasses for reading, however I didn’t have them with me that day, and it was really hot in the changing room, so I was feeling a bit flustered. I saw this very smartly dressed man who was wearing a suit standing at the entrance to the changing rooms. Peering at the name badge on his lapel, I could see the word ‘Manager’, so I assumed he worked for the store, and asked if he could find me a different bra size!

Ms Brady continued; ‘Imagine my embarrassment when he said he would be delighted to help me, but he was actually the Bank Manager of a local High Street Bank!

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first ‘Should’ve Gone to Specsavers’ advertising campaign. A nationwide poll carried out in February 2022, revealed the famous tagline ranks as one of the most iconic brand slogans ever. To mark this accolade, Specsavers launched a competition on social media in June, asking for members of the public to send in their very own ‘#Should’ve moment’. The prize being to star in their own social media advertising campaign.

Amanda entered by posting about her bra buying incident on social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter using the competition #Specsavers and #ShouldveGoneToSpecsavers.

The competition ran for two weeks from Friday 17 June, after which time a team of brand expert’s shortlisted four entries who, they thought, perfectly epitomised the iconic Specsavers’ slogan.

Ultimately, the final decision regarding the winner was with the general public, who chose their favourite submission in an online vote via Specsavers’ social media channels.

It was in September that Amanda was thrilled to find out that she had won the competition, and that she would be making history with her ‘Should’ve moment’ becoming the first Specsavers advert to be directly based on a real life moment. She went on to film her ad on location in Manchester earlier this month, alongside three professional actors.

Lisa Hale, head of social media at Specsavers, said: ‘Amanda’s mix up in the lingerie department was just vintage Should’ve and she did an absolutely amazing job acting it out for us. She was a natural comic on set. Her expressions, timing and general delivery were all spot on.’

Amanda added: ‘It was an amazing experience and I was delighted to see the final ad. It realty captured the hilarity and awkwardness of what happened to me in real life.

This week, Amanda was invited in to Specsavers Swiss Cottage for a sight test, which was carried out by Optometrist Director, Rishi Ganatra. The test included an OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) 3D scan, which is advanced diagnostic, eye scanning equipment that helps detect several serious eye conditions, including glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. It can detect eye conditions up to four years ahead of them presenting via a standard eye test.
Fortunately the sight test didn’t reveal any changes since her most recent examination which had been carried out by the store earlier in 2022. However as the winner of the competition, Ms Brady was able to choose a new pair of frames from the extensive range on display in-store.

Some potential favourites included Hackett and Superdry costing £129. Several other brands and styles were explored too, including the iconic Vivienne Westward range, Hugo Boss and Specsavers own brand. With Amanda being spoilt for choice, the final decision will be made in a few weeks, when she will return to the store to choose her favourites!
Mr Ganatra presented Ms Brady with a bouquet of flowers to mark the occasion and also as a long-time customer of Specsavers Swiss Cottage.