BBC Two of competition since ITV's launch in 1955, and both had aimed for a populist approach in response. The 1962 Pilkington Report on the future of broadcasting noticed this, and that ITV lacked any serious programming. It therefore decided that Britain's third television station should be awarded to the BBC. Prior to its launch, the new BBC2 was promoted on the BBC Television Service: the soon to be renamed BBC1. The animated adverts featured the campaign mascots "Hullabaloo", a mother kangaroo, and "Custard", her joey. Prior to, and several years after, the channel's formal launch, the channel broadcast "Trade Test Transmissions",
Custard pie is a very delicate process. In British English, pies thrown or pushed into the face are usually referred to as "custard pies". Custard pies are used as a comedic device by clowns in many circus performances, in practical jokes for harmless fun and also for throwing into the faces of public figures as a sign of disapproval. UK Saturday morning programme Tiswas had custard pies as a regular feature and even had a character called The Phantom Flan Flinger, a masked man who pied people. The World Custard Pie Throwing Championships take place annually in the village of Coxheath in