Events: First test tube baby born, Polish bishop, the first non-Italian for 400 years, becomes Pope, Spain set to vote for democracy
Films: Grease, Superman
Books: John Irving, The World According to Garp, David Hare, Plenty
Music: The Boomtown Rats knocked Grease's Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta off the top spot
As a red and blue, lycra-clad Wonder Woman kerpowed onto our screens, another wonder woman of sorts was making an impact. Margaret Thatcher, leader of the opposition party, had engaged Saatchi & Saatchi ad agency to help win the General Election.
Although the election didn't take place until the following year, 1978 saw a raft of political advertising including the memorable poster campaign, "Labour isn't working". The ad had a huge impact, largely because it was denounced by Labour's Denis Healey in Parliament.
He said the Conservatives had reached a new low by "selling politics like soap powder." Since then, the strategy of using a deliberately controversial poster on a few billboards and reaping millions of pounds of free publicity has become a standard tactic for advertisers.
Meanwhile, actor Leonard Rossiter, as Nebbish, a bumbling suitor, just couldn't help spilling his drinks over Melissa (Joan Collins) in a series of endearing Cinzano ads. Somehow the drink would always be spilled over her dress.
1978 was also the year of electronic games. The Atari 2600 with its woodgrain console and stubby rubber joysticks became a living room fixture in many middle class homes, featuring games like Tennis and Space War. Then there was Simon, a plastic circle with four coloured quarters that flashed and beeped. The aim of the game was to match the sequence. When kids weren't playing with their new electronic toys, they were watching a new school TV drama called Grange Hill.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, two men called Ben and Jerry opened an ice cream parlour in a renovated petrol station in Vermont.
To celebrate our 50th Anniversary, The Marketing Society has selected the 50 brands that shone most brightly in each of the last 50 years. Visit www.50goldenbrands.com and have your say. Which brands do you think encapsulate the zeitgeist of 1978, The Tory Party, Ben and Jerry’s, Atari2600, Cinzano – or is there a brand we missed? Where were you? Your involvement will help us finalise the definitive 50 golden brands in time for our anniversary in 2009.