George Clooney is the latest celebrity to appear in a Warburtons ad, joining an illustrious lineup of unlikely stars including Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone.
The Hollywood actor, 59, appears via video in the new entertaining clip and attempts to pitch a movie idea to the bakery’s chairman Jonathan Warburton.
However, unlike the acting legends before him, George’s presentation is shut down after Jonathan hilariously ends their call so he can enjoy a slice of toast in peace.
New video: George Clooney is the latest celebrity to appear in a Warburtons ad, appearing on a video call to try and pitch a film idea to the company’s boss Jonathan
This year, the ad celebrates Warburtons’ dedication to quality above all else – even a call with one of the world’s best known actors.
The ad opens in Jonathan’s office as the fifth-generation family baker eagerly awaits his 3pm break and starts preparing the perfect slice of hot buttered toast.
Impressive cinematic shots follow, as viewers are treated to a slow-motion sequence of toast popping up, a close-up of butter melting and Jonathan cutting the perfect triangles in anticipation.
The Chairman is then suddenly interrupted as his receptionist runs into the room and declares: ‘Mr. Warburton, George Clooney is on the line!’
What’s going on? The Hollywood star is only briefly seen in the funny clip and looks completely confused when the call is ended so Jonathan can enjoy his toast in peace
She gestures to a laptop where George Clooney is waiting.
Jonathan, not wanting to be distracted from his perfect slice of toast, smiles ‘he can wait’ as he closes the laptop and tucks into his delicious snack.
George is left bewildered in the final shot as he is seen staring down the laptop screen saying: ‘Mr. Warburton? He hung up?’
Speaking about the ad, George said: ‘It’s not every day your call is turned down for a slice of toast, but needless to say I had a lot of fun filming this spot.
Extra: Elsewhere in the clip, impressive cinematic shots show a slow-motion sequence of toast popping up, the bread flying through the air and a close-up of butter melting
How fitting: George appears via video link, a nice nod to the amount of online calls many have had to deal with during the pandemic
‘It was great working with the Warburtons team and I’m thankful for the support they are providing to the Clooney Foundation for Justice.’
The 60 second clip is the latest edition of Warburtons’ series of stories in which A list celebrities pitch a movie idea to the bakery’s chairman Jonathan Warburton.
Peter Kay famously starred in the company’s Pride and Breadjudice advert back in 2017 which saw the comedian recreate the classic story.
The spoof sees Peter playing bread businessman Thomas Warburton who falls in love with Ellen and also features a funny recreation of the famous pottery scene in Ghost.
His video came after Sylvester Stallone impressed fans with an entertaining role as The Deliverer in a 2015 bread ad.
The actor played a delivery driver in the clip and sees him having to wake up at the crack of dawn, before getting out into the world to take freshly baked bread to the masses.
It was all quite the departure from his usual tough-guy personas in his hit movies, but it seems to be something the actor took to like a duck to water.
And in 2019 Robert De Niro played a part in the Warburtons ads when he starred in the Goodbagels clip.
The actor, 77, played the part of a New York mafia boss who is not impressed to discover that Warbutons is rising to the top of the bagel making business.
In order to confront head of the Warbutons brand – Jonathan – the Academy Award winning star heads to Bolton, UK, alongside his loyal gang of mafioso to confront the businessman.
In the advert, De Niro and his made men bust into Jonathan’s office where they inform the baker that they plan to pass off the new doughy bagels as their own.
Reflecting on why he agreed to do the ad in 2019, DeNiro told British GQ: ‘Look, they asked me to do it and I met the guy, Warburton, and I thought it was funny.
‘I saw Stallone do it and I thought at least he has a sense of humour about it and about himself. And I thought I can look at it two ways.
‘Should I think I should never have done that? I’m too good for that or something? And I said, f*** it, I’ll do it. Why not?’
Speaking about the latest video, Jonathan Warburton, said: ‘We are thrilled to have George Clooney star in our latest campaign.
‘Video calls have become part of normal life for so many of us during the last year, but George Clooney popping up on screen was quite a surprise!
‘At Warburtons, we pride ourselves on the care that goes into making sure that every single loaf is as fresh and high quality as possible.
Star studded: A recent Warburtons ad, released in 2019, saw Robert De Niro actor take on the role of a New York mafia boss
Moving to Bolton? Called Goodbagels, the ads storyline saw De Niro’s character not being very impressed that Warburtons is making the best bagels in baking business
High standards: Sylvester Stallone starred in an ad dubbed The Deliverer in 2015 (left) while Peter Kay (right) had the leading role in Pride and Breadjudice in 2017
Winning format: Each of the ads start with Jonathan Warburtons secretary bursting into his office and declaring a famous visitor
Filming: Behind the scenes shots for the new ad show George recording his cameo while surrounded by dozens of crew
‘Quality is truly at the heart of our 145-year-old business, and this new ad is a real celebration of that passion, and we hope it will bring a smile to those watching.’
The new campaign celebrates Warburtons’ belief that nothing should come in the way of the perfect loaf – not even Hollywood A Listers.
As a family run business, Warburtons is dedicated to baking the best quality bread for the nation’s families, with over 2 million products baked fresh and delivered direct to 18,500 stores every morning.
The fee paid to George Clooney for taking part in the campaign has been donated to the Clooney Foundation for Justice.
The new ad will go live on social media from Friday 7th May and will air on ITV 1 on Saturday 8th May.
Kind: The fee paid to George for taking part in the campaign has been donated to the Clooney Foundation for Justice