Carlsberg launches star-studded football-focused ad

By Sara Kimberley, campaignlive.co.uk, Friday, 11 May 2012 12:48PM

Carlsberg is launching a star-studded patriotic TV ad campaign this weekend, featuring Sir Bobby Charlton, Ian Wright and Des Lynam, to promote its sponsorship of the UEFA Euro 2012Football Championship.

Carlsberg: England fans are put to the test in Fan Academy ad

A TV ad, ‘Fan Academy’, created by Fold7, will launch on Saturday morning (12 May) during 'Soccer Am' on Sky Sports.

The light-hearted campaign shows England fans physically and mentally being put through their paces at the 'Fan Academy', by a stream of famous faces such as Stuart Pearce, Brian Blessed and Ray Mears, to show what it means to be a "true England fan."

Fans then graduate from the Academy with a pint of Carlsberg.

The creative director on the ad was Ryan Newey, who worked with creatives David Govier and Simon Johnson. The production company was Academy Films, with direction by Peter Cattaneo. OMD handled the media planning and buying.

Ryan Newey, co founder, Fold7 said: "We wanted a change of focus from previous years and to celebrate the fans, showing what we do as a nation to get behind our team. England has the best fans in the world and we wanted to celebrate this, whilst retaining the quintessentially English sense of humour".

Darren Morris, marketing director, added: "The key job of 'Fan Academy' is to build anticipation and momentum in the run-up to the Euros and celebrate what it is to be an England fan. In 'Fan Academy', Fold7 have delivered a characteristically Carlsberg campaign, which we are sure will resonate with the nation."

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk