Yorkshire Tea isn’t just selling a brew, they’re selling a way of life. For over six years, their “Where everything’s done proper” campaign has celebrated the quirks and quality of British culture, one iconic spokesperson at a time.
This time, the brand teamed up with Lucky Generals and none other than Sir Patrick Stewart to take “proper” to theatrical new heights. The result? A brilliantly British office induction video starring the legendary actor as Yorkshire Tea’s most passionate team leader.
We sat down with Lucky Generals’ Creative Directors, Nick Bird and Lee Smith to hear how they brought the idea to life, from hunting for the perfect Yorkshire legend to squeezing a full-scale production into a single shoot day.
What was the brief?
Prove that Yorkshire Tea is the place where everything’s done proper.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
It’s the 6th year of the ‘Where everything’s done proper’ campaign. So it was more a case of finding the next suitable ‘employee’ for Yorkshire Tea. We featured Sean in the last ad, so we knew we needed to go big!
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
It’s all about thinking of a Yorkshire treasure, someone who is the absolute best in their field, and then finding a rather menial job at Yorkshire Tea HQ that suits their skillset and what they are famous for. Then it’s just a lot of script refining. We wanted to slip in a few office truisms, like the young lads who are gonna nail the free bar tab, and we also wanted a little homage to Milton’s prized Swingline stapler in the movie, Office Space.
What was the production process like?
Production was a dream. We had a couple of Zoom chats with Sir Patrick to iron out the finer points of the script. Then we approached Dan Opsal at Hungryman. He’s funny, sharp and smart as a whip. Plus, he has the experience of directing big celebs as he’s done multiple sketches with the biggest A-listers for the Jimmy Fallon show in the US. We only had P Stew for one day, so it was rigorous pre-production and then all guns blazing on the shoot day.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
Trying not to fall asleep after the Yorkshire-sized on-set catering portions.
What kit/tools/software were used to create the project?
The usual things we imagine. Omnipresent Yorkshireman, Barnsley at Rascal, did all the post work and Jack at King Lear twiddled all the sound knobs.
What is one funny or notable thing that happened during production?
Turns out Kelvin, our in-house agency film production and editing supremo, is exactly the same height, suit size and has precisely the same bald head as Sir Patrick. So he spent the day as Patrick’s lighting stand-in. He enjoyed it for about 30 mins, then realised just how monotonous lighting a film set is.
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
That Yorkshire Tea is proper good. It is highly important to land this because no one should have to go through life drinking sub-par tea.
How long did it take from inception to delivery?
It took about 6 months – sounded like quite a lot of contractual stuff that we stay well clear of.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
That Yorkshire Tea remains the UK’s favourite tea brand...and people enjoy the ads, they like to have a bit of a laugh.
Credit list for the work
BRAND: Yorkshire Tea
CLIENTS:
Dom Dwight: Marketing Director
Ben Newbury: Brand Marketing Lead
Lucy Hoyle: Senior Brand Manager
Carly Murphy: Assistant Brand Manager
CREATIVE AGENCY: Lucky Generals
NCIK BIRD: Creative Director
LEE SMITH: Creative Director
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Hungryman
PRODUCTION COMPANY PRODUCER: Matt Buels & Jack Beardsley
DIRECTOR: Dan Opsal
EDITOR: Andrew Ratzlaff
POST-PRODUCTION: Rascal
GRADE: James Bamford
SOUND: King Lear
MEDIA AGENCY: GoodStuff
