PubAid Unveils Christmas Ad Backing the Vital Role of UK Pubs

PubAid, the UK’s independent voice for pubs, has unveiled a new Christmas TV advert championing the industry’s vital contribution to community sport.

Titled ‘The Pub Run’, the film follows publican Justine Lorriman of The Royal Dyche in Burnley as she runs through the town, gradually joined by the many sports teams her pub supports.

What starts as a simple shout becomes an uplifting wave of community spirit, culminating in a poignant final twist that underlines the true value pubs bring to the people they serve.

The advert is driven by a poem-based script that threads the story together and ends: “some gifts, like the pub, you just cannot wrap.”

The film sits at the heart of PubAid’s recently launched Pub Powers Sport campaign, supported by Guinness and Sky Business, and has already attracted more than 25,000 views on Facebook.

PubAid Co-Founder Des O’Flanagan said:
“This advert is our heartfelt tribute to publicans everywhere and a reminder of the vital role pubs play in powering local sport, connection and wellbeing. The message is clear: pubs power 6.7 million sports sessions every year. Without pubs, we’d lose that.”

In a nod to the classic 1973 Hovis commercial, the soundtrack – Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 – has been faithfully reimagined by Stevensonics, the music production team led by award-winning producer Gary Stevenson and collaborator Phil Taylor. Stevenson’s career includes work with artists such as Rick Astley, ABC, Go West, Tony Hadley, Bros and Jane McDonald.

The voiceover is provided by Lee Row of Radio Burnley.

The advert builds on last month’s Pub Powers Sport report, which revealed that British pubs contribute over £40 million a year to grassroots sport, powering 6.7 million sporting sessions annually and helping keep 1.67 million people active. Despite ongoing challenges in the sector, support for community sport has remained consistent since 2019, underlining pubs’ role as an essential, and often unseen, force in the nation’s physical and mental wellbeing.