Warburtons has continued its series of adverts starring A-list actors, with its latest production featuring movie legend Samuel L Jackson launched today.
Hollywood celebrities George Clooney, Robert De Niro, and Sylvester Stallone have each played leading parts in previous commercials for the 147-year-old bakery brand. Bolton comedian Peter Kay has also held a starring role in the firm’s adverts.
This year’s advert for the Toastie Loaf (watch below) is entitled ‘Mad About The Bread’ and includes several cleverly scripted references to Jackson’s iconic dialogue in 1994 film Pulp Fiction. A 2:10-minute-long director’s cut as well as 60-second and 30-second cutdown edits have been rolled out today across social media, and will air on UK TV from Friday, as well as wider digital and out-of-home advertising.
Jackson is one of the highest grossing actors of all time, with movies featuring him in a lead role ammasing worldwide totals of over £14.3bn.
In the Warburtons ad, Jackson is seen taking over the role of real-life chairman Jonathan Warburton in his office at the company’s Bolton headquarters, much to the surprise of the female assistant, who enters in a familiar fashion to previous adverts.
Dressed in the chairman’s office attire of blue shirt and orange tie, Jackson grins as he turns to camera and delivers the advert’s opening line: “Hi, I’m Jonathan Warburton, chairman of the UK’s largest family bakery.” He then shares a social post in which user Steve questions the similarity of Warburtons’ much loved Toastie loaf with other shelf contenders, prompting a furiously-angered response of: “What gives?! What gives tweetie-pie is me – Jonathan Warburton. I gives. And hell hath no fury like a baker scorned, Steve.”
A montage then follows of Jackson, as the chairman, recalling the effort that goes into making the perfect Toastie loaf. He even appears on the doorstep of Steve’s parents’ house, swapping out their ‘wannabe’ toast for a plate of Warburtons.
Jackson is later seen testing bread slices for softness, butter-ability and bounce-back-ability (which he assures viewers is “a thing”), and some ranting and striding across the factory, before finally knocking down the door of the office to be met with the real chairman, who comments: “I couldn’t have said it better myself”.
Watch the new ad here:
A quote attributed to Jackson read: “It was a pleasure to meet the man at the helm of Britain’s biggest family bakery. And what an honour to follow in the footsteps of ‘Bolton alumni’, George Clooney and Robert DeNiro. We had a lot of fun on set so I hope people enjoy the finished product – the ad and Toastie Loaf!”
The campaign was developed by Joyful & Triumphant and Freud Communications, and directed by Declan Lowney at Merman. “Spending time with the [Warburtons] family talking about quality, you realise doing things properly is a family trait, bred (or baked?) into the current leadership,” said Billy Faithfull, executive creative director at Joyful & Triumphant.
“Take your baking seriously, but never yourselves said Jonathan’s father, Derek. So we figured the most unserious way to bring to life the Warburtons maxim was to cast Hollywood’s most serious monologist Samuel L. Jackson as Jonathan Warburton. We hope people will think twice before questioning the unique quality of a Warburtons Toastie Loaf, at least for the next generation or two,” Faithfull added.
In July, Warburtons revealed its operating profit had fallen by 43% for the 52 weeks ended 24 September 2022 compared to the previous period, which is said was due to commodity inflation and driver shortages. However, its turnover of £605.7m for its 2021/22 financial year marked a 6.7% increase from the year prior.
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