New face of Boddingtons in campaign for draught barrel

by Jennifer Whitehead,, Brand Republic 29-Apr-04, 16:00

LONDON - Alison King, a former model and television actress, has been chosen as the new face of Boddingtons, following in the footsteps of Melanie Sykes by appearing in a new advertising campaign for the beer, created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

King, who has starred in 'Dream Team' and appeared in episodes of 'Cold Feet', 'Coupling' and 'Cutting It', launched the ad campaign at Manchester nightspot The Circle Club ahead of its national debut on May 3.

In the new Boddingtons ad, which is called 'The Heist', four men are shown trying to smuggle the perfect pint of Boddingtons out of a pub.

Their first three attempts are failures because they are caught by bouncers. But on the fourth go they succeed and take the pints home, only to find that their girlfriends have already discovered the secret of a perfect pint at home, the Boddingtons draught barrel. King delivers the endline: "What kept yer?"

The campaign breaks next week and will run on ITV and Channel 4 in northern, central and HTV regions, and nationally on Five and satellite. Media is through Starcom Motive.

Sykes made her name by appearing in ads for Boddingtons, using her Manchester accent to comic effect by delivering the line "Eh Tarquil, are your trolleys on right way round?". She now co-hosts ITV's morning show 'Today with Des and Mel' and is also currently appearing in an ad for Head and Shoulders.

King is from Leicestershire, but studied in Manchester and claims to be fond of a creamy pint of Boddingtons in her local pub.

"I was thrilled to be chosen as the girl to deliver that infamous endline in a Boddingtons ad. As a girl who spends so much time in Manchester, it's great to be able to be part of a campaign for a brand such as Boddingtons, especially as I love a creamy pint of Bodds down my local," King said.

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