Not happy, Paul? Iconic ad’s director shares opinion on Darrell Lea ‘remake’

It's the advertising stoush that's left a lot of people "not happy, Jan", but now the director of the original ad that spawned that iconic catchphrase has spilled the beans on what he thinks of Darrell Lea's "remake".

The chocolate-maker company released an updated version of the original Yellow Pages ad this week.

The advertisement follows a similar pattern to the original, with an office boss asking employee Jan why their advertisement does not appear in "the directory" (changed from "the Yellow Pages" in the original).

However, as the employee flees the office, the boss - played in both commercials by Deborah Kennedy - finds a block of Darrell Lea chocolate, transmuting the anticipated "Not happy, Jan" into "No worries, Jan".

Sensis, the parent company of Yellow Pages, yesterday asked for the new advertisement to cease airing immediately.

Darrell Lea has complied - even agree to send "a big box of chocolates" to Sensis as a peacemaking gesture.

But the director of the original 2000 advertisement, Paul Middleditch, had his own thoughts.

"I loved it," he said.

"I loved seeing the ad because I thought it was a really lovely salute."

However, he said some aspects of the first ad could never be recreated.

"Ultimately, the last moment where she opens the window, I actually wedged the window so she couldn't open it, which was frustrating to her, which added to her performance," he said.

And Darrell Lea have quickly released a new advertisement, which can be viewed online here.