Our new TV commercial for our flagship brand Thatchers Gold, which can be seen on TV for the first time tonight (Friday 7^th August during Coronation Street), has been filmed in and around Thatchers Myrtle Farm in Sandford.

Entitled “Time Stops”, the commercial describes the moment of intense excitement and anticipation at 12.30 each Friday, when the Thatchers cidermakers taste their next vat of apple cider to decide if it’s as good as it should be and ready to leave the farm.  It’s a moment full of expectation, which ripples out into the local community.

Using locations such as our orchards and our gigantic 150 year old oak vats, filming took three days on location.

Thatchers creative agency Joint wrote the commercial, hiring in Director Simon Ratigan, one of the UK’s best known directors of commercials.

The film showcases the dedication of the fourth generation cidermakers to great taste and perfection, making cider taste the way it should.

Yvonne Flannery, Thatchers’ marketing director says, “The film opens on a picturesque sunlit Somerset landscape, taking the viewer on a journey around the local Myrtle Farm community, through the farm gates, towards the cider vats, just as the tasting begins.  The degree of slow-motion increases the closer we get to the point of tasting, amplifying the sense of anticipation and drawing the audience into the story as it unfolds.

“The director’s aim was to capture the mood and intensity of the moment by filming what happens at the cider mill in ultra-slow-motion, so that life comes to a virtual standstill just as the weekly tasting starts.   Simple, everyday scenes shot in a beautiful cinematic way, give the film a charm, honesty and naturalism, reflecting life here at Myrtle Farm.”

A rare high speed V1611 camera was used to shoot at a striking and filmic frame rate, and for up to 18,000 frames per second, meaning that scenes such as a bee’s wings hovering or the Thatchers Gold bubbles rising, were able to be captured.

The commercial will be aired until the end of September on ITV, C4, Channel 5 and digital channels. 32 million adults in the UK are expected to see the ad at least three times, with spot times including The Bourne Series of films, Very British Problems on C4, football league highlights on Channel 5, as well as key sporting fixtures on Sky. It will also be seen in cinemas through to mid-September. Media buying was handled by Bray Leino.

The new commercial is part of our new campaign for Thatchers Gold, that reinforces the passion for the art of cidermaking that has been at the heart of the Thatchers family business for over 111 years.

“Here at Thatchers we take the art of cider making seriously every step of the way, and our Friday tasting in particular has become somewhat legendary,” explains managing director Martin Thatcher. “This new commercial is explaining why we take our tastings so seriously – really focussing on our values, the authenticity of our brand, and our dedication to the art of cidermaking, great taste and perfection.”

See the commercial here: https://youtu.be/l1Wse2lJSRU