Tech Meets Tradition: Clarkson’s Fight for the Great British Pub

Jeremy Clarkson unleashes "banned" ad by T&P, and launches AI-powered mission to save the Great British Pub with Hawkstone

By Creative Salon

15 July 2025

Jeremy Clarkson, the famously outspoken farmer and entrepreneur, is making headlines once again, this time with a new Hawkstone Lager advertisement so impactful it’s been deemed too potent for traditional media.

The brainchild of agency T&P, this 'banned' ad—featuring a 34-strong choir of real British farmers—marks the launch of Clarkson's most ambitious campaign yet: a tech-forward mission to rescue the struggling British pub industry.

Described by Clarkson as “the best thing I’ve ever made, apart from a shepherd’s pie in 1988,” the advert showcases genuine, mud-on-their-boots farmers singing a powerful celebration of British agriculture – the very backbone of Hawkstone’s best-selling lager and cider.

Hot on the heels of the success of Amazon Prime’s Clarkson’s Farm and the opening of his own pub, The Farmer’s Dog, Clarkson has turned his attention to the alarming rate of pub closures across the UK. “I’ve recently discovered, through my own wallet-emptying experience of trying to run one, that being a publican is an even harder job than being a farmer. And that’s saying something,” Clarkson states. “Pubs are closing at a terrifying rate, and if they go, the market for British-farmed barley, apples, and wheat goes with them. Saving the pub is, in a very real sense, saving the farm.”

In a characteristically bold move, Clarkson is now leveraging his significant social media influence (9m+ followers) to directly support pubs stocking Hawkstone. His newly formed singing farmers choir will record a personalised song for each participating pub across the UK, which will then be promoted across Clarkson’s vast social media channels.

This innovative project, conceived and executed by T&P, in collaboration with creative and technology partner, Good Boy Consultancy, leveraged cutting-edge AI technology. The team meticulously filmed choir performances, then utilised specialised AI, including lipdub.ai, to perfectly sync the farmers’ singing to new, bespoke lyrics.

Crucially, Suno.ai was employed to adapt the original melodies, ensuring accurate pronunciation of each pub name while maintaining the songs’ original feel. This intricate process allows for a highly customisable and engaging musical experience, showcasing a new frontier in personalised, large-scale content creation. “If a pub is brave enough to back British farming by stocking our lager, then it’s only right we back them,” Clarkson declared. “We’ll write them their own anthem and I’ll blast it out on the internet. It’s a simple idea: my audience gets to hear about a brilliant pub, and the pub gets a few more people through the door. Everyone wins.”

Oliver Feldwick, Global Chief Innovation Officer at T&P commented on the innovative use of AI: “This campaign is a brilliant example of how AI can be used not just for efficiency, but for genuine creative impact and hyper-personalisation at scale. By leveraging AI for lip-syncing and audio adaptation, Hawkstone is creating truly unique, engaging content that directly supports local businesses in a way that would be impossible through traditional means. It's a smart, effective use of technology to amplify a powerful message."

The only question that remains is whether these new, bespoke pub anthems will also face the wrath of the regulators. “Probably,” Clarkson grumbled. “But let’s see them try and ban them all. How hard can it be?”

CREDITS

T&P

Johnny Hornby – Founder and CEO

Jim Bolton – Creative Director

Tom Sutton – Head of &Accelerate

Oliver Aucamp – Account Director

Thea Evely – Head of Production

Holly Simmons – Senior Producer

Sarah White - MD, Halpern

Stavros Themistocli - Head of Media, Halpern

Hawkstone

Jonas Munk – Chief Commercial Officer