Asda signs Shane Meadows for TV ad

by Kate Nettleton, Campaign 25-Jul-08

Shane Meadows, the award-winning filmmaker, has directed Asda's latest ad for its George back-to-school clothing range.

The ad, which is currently in post-production, was created by Fallon and
features children from the north of England mucking around and playing
tug of war in their school uniforms. It aims to highlight the quality

and low price of the clothing.

The spot breaks in the first week of August and marks a departure from
Asda's previous celebrity-focused campaigns, which up until recently
featured Coleen McLoughlin as the face of its women's clothing
range.

The supermarket dropped McLoughlin in April, amid speculation that it
planned to sign up more upmarket celebrities such as Joanna Lumley,
Helen Mirren, Carla Bruni and Sienna Miller to replace her. The new ad
will not feature any celebrities, however.

Fallon signed up Meadows to direct the TV commercial because of his
experience of conveying an honest and realistic image of children in
featfilms such as This is England, which won the 2008 Bafta for Best
British Film.

Meadows' most recent commercial directorial project was the feature film
Somers Town, which was funded by Eurostar and created in partnership
with Mother.

The film, which recently picked up Best New British Feature Film at the
Edinburgh Film Festival, tells of the friendship between two teenagers,
one of whom is the son of an immigrant working on the new Eurostar
terminal.