David, The Macallan, and His Advertising Past

...David Tennant and some of his ad campaigns, past and present

Given the recent unveiling of David’s long-form advertisement for The Macallan (which, if you haven’t already seen it, can be found right here) I thought it was the perfect time for us to explore David’s involvement with other ad campaigns.

If there’s anything David isn’t, he’s not into thinking he’s too good for something. He’s not pompous or pretentious, and he’d be the first to say, “If you’re an actor, then act.” He’s not below any form of acting.

He’s contributed his voice and image to many different types of ad campaigns over the years. In this post, we’ll take a look at a few.

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One of David’s earliest ad campaigns was a series of television advertisements for Video Networks’ HomeChoice. The VoD (video-on-demand) high-speed internet access service launched their advertising campaign in the London area on 26 September 2000 with a bang…by rolling an army tank down the streets of London!

For those unfamiliar with video-on-demand, it was a precursor to today’s familiar streaming services and offered subscribers the opportunity to choose what they wanted to watch at whatever time they wished to watch it. HomeChoice was available to all Londoners by the end of 2000 and used a BT (British Telecom) phone line via ADSL cable.

Today, after a few name changes and company buyouts, the service is better known as TalkTalk TV.

David's adverts for HomeChoice; a September 2002 article from the Guardian

Print adverts for HomeChoice, September/October 2000

David did at least two commercials for the service. The first was the aforementioned army tank, and in the second he played Steve, a fellow who was busy taking over a broadcast network.

Sadly, they picked the other guy to do their print advertisements!

If you’d like to watch both adverts, you can find the army tank advert here:

…and the network takeover here:

In the summer of 2008, David did his first of two series of ads for UFI Learn Direct, which was then one of the largest supplier of e-learning courses of its kind in the world. Learndirect was developed by UFI (University For Industry) and had a remit from the UK government to provide high-quality post-16 learning for people with few to no skills or qualifications, with the goal of strengthening their employability.

From the 16 June until 31 July, three new ads featuring David’s voiceovers ran across terrestrial and satellite TV stations as part of a new learndirect campaign.

The first of the three was entitled, “Des”: Des wants to get on in his current job but needs to improve his skills to do so. With help and support from our friendly tutors he’s soon on his way.

The second was entitled, “Paul”: Paul is unfortunately made redundant and decides he needs new skills to help him get a new job.

And the third was entitled, “Jane”: Jane wants to start her own business but wonders how she'll find time to fit the new skills she needs to do so into her busy life.

For a few years in the early 2010s, it seems David was a little obsessed with soup - as he chose to do two ads featuring the delicious foodstuff!

In March of 2010, Cuisinart began airing an ad for its Soup Maker SSB1U, an all-in-one device for cooking, blending and serving soup, which had made its debut in the UK in September 2009.

David did this advert for the company:

Another ad David did was for soup itself - namely, Heinz. Both David and fellow Doctor Tom Baker chose to do ads for the soup in one of the brand’s seasonal TV and radio campaigns, entitled ‘I Love Winter’ - and one featuring David’s soothing voice began airing in the UK from November 2013 and on through until early March of 2014. The radio adverts were tuned to the weather conditions, and up weighted when the temperatures dropped.

David’s Heinz ad, entitled 'Cold', was penned by Paul Burke, a creative at Abbott Mead Vickers BDDO and was produced by Robbie Kilgour for AMV BBVO's The Lab Studios. It won the Radio Advertising Bureau's Aerial Award for November 2013, an award which celebrates the best of the radio advertising industry's creativity.

One of the judges for the award, Will Awdry of Ogilvy & Mather, had this to say about the advert:

In a month where there have been courageous and interesting sound effects, sequential threats to a bakery owner and a bid to rehabilitate the Co-Op through engaging poetry, the Heinz spot stands out for its simplicity and class. David Tennant doesn’t sound like he’s selling, just telling. It’s not overwritten. It puts tomato soup very much in mind…an enjoyable piece of descriptive realism delivered memorably by a convincing performance.

The ad’s author, Paul Burke, wrote the ad specifically with David in mind. He said about the ad:

Heinz are true to life. They pick the person carefully – it is hard to find people with recognisable voices. No one has turned down the Heinz radio ad after being asked; it’s a bit like 'Desert Island Discs'.

If all of this has roused your curiosity, look no further: you can listen to David’s award-winning ad right here, and if you want to download it, click here!

And that’s about it for this installment of David’s involvement with advertisements of all types. Of course, David has done many other ads and voiceovers during his career, and I look forward to highlighting a few of those in future posts!