Boddingtons confirms Mel Sykes is back on brand

By Nicholas Robinson

- Last updated on GMT

She's back: Melanie Sykes on her way to the pub before last orders
She's back: Melanie Sykes on her way to the pub before last orders

Related tags Advertising Boddingtons

AB InBev-owned Boddingtons has announced television personality Melanie Sykes will feature in a new advertising campaign more than 20 years after the first famous ad aired.

It was first announced Sykes was set to re-join the brand when she was spotted at this year’s Publican Awards (entries for 2018 are now open)​, where the star posed for a picture while holding a can of Boddingtons​.

The new digital campaign has already launched and has been tailored by the director of the original ad, Danny Kleinman, in which Sykes delivered a pint of the bitter to an athlete in a desert.

Sykes’s new ad is entitled Tour De Formby and is a parody of a contemporary sports advert, but with a nod to Boddingtons’ northern heritage.

Flexing muscles

It features close-up shots of a cyclist's Lycra, flexing muscle and has a “motivational” voiceover.

Sykes then interrupts the serious tone in her northern accent, which then leads the viewer to see a middle-aged man on a mission to transport the star up a steep hill in a Tuk Tuk so she can make it to the pub for last orders.

“Shooting the new ad with Danny and Boddingtons was so much fun,” Sykes said.

“It brought back really fond memories from working on the original ads which I know hold a lot of nostalgia, not just for me but for many people.

“I never thought that anything could match up to the first time round, but I think this one could well be my favourite.

‘Hear what other people think’

“I’m so happy with how it turned out and really can’t wait to hear what other people think.”

Boddingtons’ marketing manager Aina Fuller added: “Boddingtons is a nationally treasured brand, known for its legendary ads, which is why we’re so excited to launch a brand new campaign today.

“It’s been fantastic to reunite the old dream team of Mel, Danny and Boddingtons. We wanted to create something that captures the old magic each team member naturally brings, with the cheeky humour that Boddingtons is known and loved for.”

Boddingtons is a more than 200-year-old bitter which is currently brewed at AB InBev’s South Wales Brewery to 3.5% ABV.

Related topics Beer