PubAid unveils Christmas ad backing UK pubs

PubAid has unveiled a new Christmas TV advert, which champions the pub industry’s contribution to community sport.

Titled ‘The Pub Run’, the film follows publican Justine Lorriman of The Royal Dyche in Burnley as she runs through the town, gradually joined by the many sports teams her pub supports.

The advert is driven by a poem-based script that threads the story together and ends with the line: “some gifts, like the pub, you just cannot wrap.”

The film sits at the heart of PubAid’s recently launched Pub Powers Sport campaign, supported by Guinness and Sky Business, and has already attracted more than 25,000 views on Facebook.

"This advert is our heartfelt tribute to publicans everywhere and a reminder of the vital role pubs play in powering local sport, connection and wellbeing," says PubAid co-founder Des O’Flanagan. "The message is clear: pubs power 6.7m sports sessions every year. Without pubs, we’d lose that."

Sound familiar?

In a nod to the classic 1973 Hovis commercial, the soundtrack - Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 - has been reimagined by Stevensonics, the music production team led by producer Gary Stevenson and collaborator Phil Taylor. The voiceover is provided by Lee Row of Radio Burnley.

The advert builds on last month’s Pub Powers Sport report, which revealed that British pubs contribute over £40m a year to grassroots sport and helping keep 1.67m people active.

Despite ongoing challenges in the sector, support for community sport has remained consistent since 2019, underlining pubs’ role as a force in the nation’s physical and mental wellbeing.

You may also be interested in…