Alan Shearer has returned to reprise his role with McDonald’s latest advert, 25 years after the original film aired.
The film celebrates the 100,000 FareShare meals which have been donated by customers using the fast food giant’s MyMcDonald’s Reward scheme since it was launched last year.
The advert, aimed at encouraging customers to continue to use the chain’s reward scheme, features a McDonald’s employee finally getting a selfie with the famous retired footballer and manager, after failing to get a photo earlier in the day.
The film ends with her showing the picture to her father who then looks at his own autograph from Shearer, before it is revealed he was the person who chased Shearer for an autograph as a young boy in the original 90s spot.
The 2023 version of the film is filled with Easter eggs for the eagle-eyed fan, with the star-struck boy from the 90s film and the reminiscing father are played by the same original actor, Stephen Hoyle.
Shearer’s daughter Chloe also reprises her phone-based role in the new adverts, once again asking for her dad to collect a McDonald’s meal on his way home and mirroring the request she originally made, aged five, in the 1988 film.
The nostalgic ad marks the 25 anniversary of the original version, ‘Signature’ but also highlights some of the changes made over the years, as it begins by showing Shearer interacting with young children at a McDonald’s Fun Football event – a free initiative designed by the company to encourage more children 5 – 11 into sports.
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“Times have changed since I shot the first advert with McDonald’s 25 years ago – I don’t get many people asking me for signatures anymore, now they’re all after selfies,” said Alan Shearer.
“It was also great to see Stephen, the actor who was in the original advert all those years ago – he’d even brought along the original cheque from the 1998 shoot, which genuinely came from my old cheque book!”
McDonald UK and Ireland head of consumer communications and partnership, Louise Page, said: “We wanted to do something special to mark the equivalent of 100,000 FareShare meals being donated via MyMcDonald’s Rewards by our generous customers, and encourage people to use their points to treat themselves or donate to our three good causes.”
She added: “With the 25th anniversary of ‘Signature’ approaching and Alan being such a good sport, we knew we had the perfect idea. Hopefully in another 25 years, we’ll call up Alan again to complete the trilogy!”
