Bass unveils 7m push for Carling

Bass Brewers is spending more than 7m on a new campaign for Carling lager, starring Nottingham Forest manager Ron Atkinson.

The commercial, developed by WCRS, is set in Medieval England and depicts a series of coincidences involving a can of Carling that leads to the creation of football. “Big Ron” complains about offside from a castle rampart, dressed in medieval clothing. The campaign carries a new strapline “What a difference a Carling makes”.

Mark Hunter, Carling marketing director, says: “We wanted to build on Carling’s British heritage and the humorous advertising of a previous era. So, what better way to do this than look at how Carling has helped change the course of history?

“There will be more defining Carling moments in future commercials, but we thought that football was the obvious place to start, due to our sponsorship of the FA Carling Premiership,” he adds.

The new ad took three weeks to film in a medieval castle in Spain. Most of the extras were Spanish and had to be taught authentic English football chants before filming.