Yorkshire Tea controversially recruits famous Lancastrian actress for new campaign

Yorkshire Tea has announced it has recruited Happy Valley actress Sarah Lancashire CBE for its latest campaign.

The move may come as a bit of surprise as the former Coronation Street and Last Tango in Halifax star is not only Lancastrian by name but also by birth, having been born in Urmston and raised in Oldham, both of which were still part of Lancashire at the time.

On the opposite end, Yorkshire Tea is one of the biggest brands to have ever come out of the White Rose County and 50 years since its foundation, it is doing Yorkshire proud as the second most popular tea brand in the UK.

What is Sarah’s role in the campaign?

In a similar strain to her iconic role as in Happy Valley, 60-year-old Sarah has been recruited by Yorkshire Tea to hunt down an office biscuit thief.

Devised by creative agency Lucky Generals, the ad is the third installment under the brand’s ‘Where Everything’s Done Proper’ brand platform which was launched in 2017.

The spot, which launched this week features Sarah as head of security at Yorkshire Tea HQ.

In the lighthearted caper, the Lancastrian star has been tasked with hunting down the office’s biscuit thief and interrogates various suspects.

The case seems solved when the culprit is tracked using CCTV, but a missing stapler sees Sarah back on the case.

You can watch the video above.

What has been said about the Lancashire and Yorkshire crossover?

Yorkshire Tea senior brand manager Lucy Hoyle said: “We’re chuffed to bits with our new ad and hope that everyone loves it as much as we do. Yorkshire Tea is the home of Where Everything’s Done Proper and just as our advertising has gained momentum over the last seven years, so too has the Nation’s appreciation of a proper Brew.

“And as the UK’s No1 tea brand, we know that people are enjoying our products across the country, from all walks of life and regardless of which side of the Pennines they might hail from!”

Nick Bird, creative director at Lucky Generals, said: “Obviously, Sarah nabbed the culprit quickly. Rumour has it, they were taken into custardy cream…..(sorry).”

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How have other ‘Where Everything’s Done Proper’ campaigns gone down?

Previous iterations of the brand platform have won a Grand Effie and a Gold IPA award.

These former campaigns have starred X-Men actor Patrick Stewart, Game of Thrones’s Sean Bean, the late television presenter Sir Michael Parkinson, athletes the Brownlee Brothers, magician Dynamo, and rock group the Kaiser Chiefs.

Media Planning and Buying has been handled by media agency Goodstuff.

The campaign will run across TV, cinema and subscription video-on-demand and broadcast video-on-demand.