A KELSO campervan is the star of a primetime advert over the festive period. For the red VW combi, originally from Brazil, can be seen in the advert for fashion discounter TK Maxx.
Eagle-eyed viewers in the know would have spotted Ruby during commercial breaks in the X Factor.
“We just wish we were as cool as our camper, “ joked owners Simon and Julie Forsyth.
The pair were surfing the net for ideas to convert a van that Simon had into a campervan, and possibly rent it out, when they came across a picture of a burgundy type 2 VW campervan on eBay.
Mrs Forsyth said: “It looked beautiful in the pictures and best of all it was for sale in Lockerbie. I told Simon ‘this is more what we should be trying to rent out’. So after a nerve-wracking wait till the last 15 seconds we put our bid in and, hey presto, we were the proud owners of Rosie.
“To cut a long story short, we got her home and found our ‘73 plate VW was in need of some serious TLC. Not to lose our momentum with the idea of the rental business, but realising a reliable camper is a must, we bought Ruby who is a VW type 2 2010 Danbury conversion and pretty much looks like Rosie.”
That gave Mr Forsyth time to work on Rosie and the couple launched The Scottish Camper Van Company in May last year.
“We have rented to people from England, Canada, Germany – even Cambodia, when a couple from Newcastle, who now live in Cambodia, returned to get married and used Ruby for their honeymoon.” Mrs Forsyth explained how Ruby came to be in the primetime television advertisement.
“One Saturday morning a guy who sources vehicles for movies, adverts, music videos etc, phoned us saying he had came across our website as he needed a camper for the TK Maxx Christmas advert and Ruby was perfect! He asked if Simon would be able to have her at Glasgow Barrowlands for 6am on the Monday morning. It was as casual as that.
“We said: ‘er, okay, email us some details and we’ll get back to you’ really thinking it was a wind-up!”
The man said he needed Simon and the van for four days which saw Simon at the Barrows for the first day when the driving-in-cab scene was shot. The following day the ad’s snow angel scene was filmed at Muirhouses and the next two days were in Hamilton for the big family group footage.
Mr Forsyth said: “There was hours and hours of take after take for just a few glimpses, but it was all good fun.”
Asked what the company liked about Ruby, Mrs Forsyth said: “Her deep red colour and chrome bumpers set Ruby apart and give a real Christmas feel. Everyone who sees her, hires her and even the people on the advert set all really warmed to our little camper!
“I don’t think anyone would ever think that a little camper from Kelso would be in such a cool ad, but when they find out it’s our Ruby they’re like ‘OMG, yes, I saw the ad and saw the camper, but never thought it was yours!’ Then they start asking how on earth we got Ruby in that advert!”
The ad is scheduled to run until the end of the festive period. For further information (or to see the ad) visit www.thescottishcampervanco.com.
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