London - Carlsberg, the official beer of the England football team, has launched its new TV advert, as the build-up to this year’s World Cup reaches its peak.
The 90 second film features a cast list that reads like a who’s who of English sporting greats. They all combine to deliver “Probably the best team talk in the world…” to the England football team.
The line-up includes Sir Trevor Brooking, Nigel Benn, World Cup winner Jack Charlton, Stuart Pearce, fifteen times world darts champion Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor and legendary adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
The ad first aired on Saturday May 8th and will run until the end of June. This advert is part of Carlsberg UK’s wider campaign to inspire the England team this summer. Since February, the brewer has been asking fans to show their support by creating their own team talks and has now unveiled its own version.
The ad begins two minutes before kick-off with Stuart Pearce delivering some final words of inspiration in the dressing room, we then follow the team on their way to the pitch being spurred on by the likes of Sir Ian Botham, four-time World Superbike champion Carl Fogarty and five-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave.
Having been cheered through the tunnel by a shirtless Jeff Stelling – complete with St. George’s Cross body paint – the final scene of the advert sees the team being led out of the tunnel by Bobby Moore alongside a lion as they prepare to take on the world.
The ad was produced by Saatchi & Saatchi and directed by Jeff Labbe. In addition to the full 90 second advert, there will also be shorter edits running in the build up to this summer’s big tournament. To view the full length ad go to www.englandteamtalk.com
Paul Silburn, Executive Creative Partner, Saatchi & Saatchi said "Through it's sponsorship of the England team Carlsberg is in a unique position during the tournament. So we also see this is a unique ad in that its target audience is just eleven men - the eleven players who will step onto the pitch to represent the hopes and prayers of the other 49 million English men and women. It's our ambition that the team will watch the ad and draw inspiration and motivation from it."
Commenting on the new campaign, Paul Davies, Director of Brands and Insight at Carlsberg UK, said “This ad has been in the making for months and we hope it can help deliver some additional inspiration for the England team and the fans. Pulling the shoot together was an impressive undertaking and it was a real honour to bring all of these sporting heroes together.”
Sir Steve Redgrave said: “We had a lot of fun creating this advert with Carlsberg and it was amazing to see so many English champions getting involved in the project. England have got a great chance at this summer’s tournament and I hope we have helped to get the nation behind the team and spur them on to victory in South Africa.”
The advert was filmed on location at the ‘The Den’, the home of Millwall FC. The cast members also appear in some behind the scenes filming and interviews that can also be seen at www.englandteamtalk.com
English sporting heroes also in the advert
- Double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes
- Round the world yachtswoman Dame Ellen McArthur
- Rugby World Cup winning coach Sir Clive Woodward
- Marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe
- Six-time World Snooker Champion Steve Davis
- English rock group Kasabian