Jeremy Clarkson, the famously outspoken part-time farmer, former Rotherham Advertiser and Rochdale Observer journalist and erstwhile Top Gear host, is hoping to grab headlines once again with a new Hawkstone Lager advertisement featuring a 34-strong choir of real British farmers that the pugilistic celeb describes as his “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 said. “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.”
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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 agency T&P, in collaboration with creative and technology partner, Good Boy Consultancy, leveraged cutting-edge AI technology. The team meticulously filmed choir performances, then utilized specialized 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 customizable 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, said: “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?”
