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The Chimpanzees were chimpanzees that served as the mascots of British tea brand PG Tips from 1956-2001. Their voices were provided by British celebrities such as Peter Sellers and Bob Monkhouse. They were seen in different situations and the advert would end with them drinking PG Tips.
The Chimpanzee adverts were briefly stopped in the 1970s due to complaints from animal rights companies, but eventually returned 18 months later after sales dropped.
The most well known Tipps Family advert was the 1971 advert "Mr. Shifter" which featured the title star and his son moving a piano down a flight of stairs only to be distracted by the piano's owner who offers them tea. As they drink the tea, Mr. Shifter's son says that the piano is on his foot to which Mr. Shifter replies "You hum it son, I'll play it".
Beginning in 1992, adverts featuring a recurring family of chimpanzees were introduced, consisting of a couple Geoff and Shirley, and their two children Samantha and Kevin. Kevin is an energetic but bossy boy and Samantha is a sweet teenage girl. These adverts were filmed in the style of a family sitcom and lasted until 2001 when PG Tips dropped the Chimpanzees for the second and final time and replaced them with The T-Birds. However, the adverts were still shown abroad until 2003.
In the Airline advert from 1986, a prototype of The Tipps Family are seen with only Geoff and Samantha
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- The chimpanzees used in the adverts were from Twycross Zoo. It was the zoo's decision to stop the chimpanzees from being used in the adverts as they believed that it was wrong to continue.
- The Chimpanzees are the first of PG Tips' two primate mascots. The second would be Monkey, who appeared in the adverts from 2007 to 2017.