AdMiration feature: Warburtons’ “150 Years in the Baking”

For this week’s AdMiration feature, we looked at consumer response to Warburtons’ “150 Years in the Baking” ad, which celebrates the brand’s 150th anniversary and stars legendary actor Morgan Freeman.

Read on to get our 3-2-1 snapshot of the ad (3 facts, 2 learnings and 1 reflection) and learn how their ad was received based on our data.

The ad opens to a shot of an orange Warburtons truck exiting their factory headquarters in Bolton, where the real Jonathan Warburton is seen sitting at his desk with a slice of Toastie loaf in his hand. 

The instantly recognizable voice of Morgan Freeman comes in, narrating, “As he did every day, Jonathan Warburton buttered his toast and waited for a knock on the door,” with the knock shortly following. 

His assistant comes bursting in but before she can get the words out, Freeman interrupts, “but the only thing knocking on this day was history... and only the velvet symphony of my voice could do it justice,” with the assistant breaking the fourth wall and silent screaming “Morgan Freeman!”         

Viewers are then taken back in time, from the very first loaf baked by Ellen Warburton 150 years ago to how their bread obsession grew years later with a Thanksgiving dinner full of dishes made entirely of bread, the first spaceship launch (as a loaf) and then jumps generations and bread types — even including Paddington Bear pulling his favorite out of his hat.   

The montage and narration pause as the fourth wall is again broken with Morgan Freeman in the recording studio asking Jonathan Warburton what a crumpet is. 

The “ad” resumes with an 80s montage to the sound of Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” on a tarmac that shifts to a fleet of orange Warburtons trucks on the road to delivery, which again quickly changes to a delivery room in a hospital as the next generation of Warburton is born. 

The ad ends with Freeman saying “The next 150 who knows, but rest assured…” “There'll always be a Warburton behind this desk,” Jonathan Warburton finishes. The ad concludes with the orange Warburtons background and logo with the words “Toasting 150 years.”

3 facts

• This is a strong ad that lands in the top 20% of UK ads for its ability to drive short term sales (Sales Impact: 84) and the top 10% for its ability to drive brand equity over the long term (Brand Impact: 92).

• The spot resonates exceptionally well with viewers, delivering a perfect balance of Love and Laughter throughout — ultimately leaving people feeling Love as their dominant emotion (Love: 40% vs. 28% norm).

• The ad does an excellent job at conveying that Warburtons is a reliable brand that has been around for 150 years, with 60% agreeing that the ad shows that Warburton’s is a “trusted brand” 57% agreeing it’s a brand with a “well-known brand heritage.” 

2 learnings

• Lengthy ads can be highly engaging when done right. Even though the ad is two minutes long, the ad strongly resonates with viewers and makes them feel something (scoring 64 in overall emotion vs. 49 norm), particularly adults 45 and over. It truly takes people on a journey and involves them deeply as well as entertains. The combination of the storytelling, the narration (which is loved) by Morgan Freeman, the changes in momentum, moments of cultural references like Paddington and Top Gun give so much of a story and so much to get into that the two minutes fly by. As some shared: “I love the story the ad tells, it's humourous but also very believable.” and “I liked that they told us the story of all the generations that have been baking for 150 years.” 

• Celebrating a milestone is a great way to make people feel good about your brand. And Warburtons does an excellent job at celebrating their notable milestone in this spot (150 years!), pulling out all the stops to tell their origin story in an entertaining, cinematic way. From nods to their heritage (Bolton), their family history and the many ways they’ve become part of UK culture, the ad makes viewers feel good about Warburtons (Enjoyment: 4.1 vs. 3. norm) as well as relevant to them (Relevance: 3.9 vs. 3.5 norm) with the highest peaks of Love falling on Johnathan Warburton buttering his toast as well as the various history scenes and whenever we see close ups of bread — a fantastic result for a campaign that surrounds a moment like this.

  1 reflection

Are you establishing a consistent style that makes it easy for consumers to connect with your advertising? And even easier to recognize?  

In this case, Warburtons has created a long-established history with how they advertise that goes beyond the average DBA, building one of the most consistent and recognizable advertising playbooks in the UK — combining its bold orange brand color, strong Bolton heritage and family-run authenticity with narrative, entertainment-first storytelling. The brand consistently leans into humorous, cinematic mini-films often elevated by celebrity appearances from the likes of Robert De Niro, George Clooney and now, Morgan Freeman. 

This consistency has created a repeatable style that’s instantly recognizable, making it obvious to viewers within seconds that the ad could only belong to Warburtons. And that kind of consistency is powerful: It builds memory structures over time, helps cut-through crowded media environments and ensures every new campaign strengthens the brand rather than starting from scratch.

Warburtons is celebrating 150 years of baking with their latest campaign, recruiting legendary voice Morgan Freeman as their latest celebrity to help tell their story in a two-minute spot created by Joyful & Triumphant and directed by Declan Lowney through Merman.

On the ads creation, Billy Faithfull, Founder and Executive Creative Director at Joyful & Triumphant, shared: “How do you make one of those ads, without making ‘one of those ads’? That was where we started, one hell of a story in search of one hell of a storyteller. Morgan Freeman was the first and only choice for the job. The velvet symphony of his timeless tones rubs beautifully against the Warburtons’ sense of humor, making it a perfect partnership to mark such an austere occasion."

Freeman himself shared: "Lending my voice to chronicle 150 years of this family's unwavering dedication to the simple, yet profound, act of baking...well, that's a narrative that truly deserves to be heard. Their commitment to quality baking, passed down through generations, shines through, making it abundantly clear why they’ve remained a beloved household name for so long...”

Jonathan Warburton, chairman of Warburtons, added: "As gross as it may well sound, baking truly is in our blood. This is more than just an advert; it’s a celebration of 150 years of simply doing what we love.”

The campaign will run across TV, VOD, OOH, radio and online, premiering during The Masked Singer on ITV.

This ad was a true cinematic experience from Warburtons, landing in the the top 20% of UK ads for its ability to drive short term sales and the top 10% for its ability to drive brand equity over the long term (Sales Impact: 84, Brand Impact: 92).

And the ad was even more well-received by those ages 45 and up! (Sales Impact: 95, Brand Impact: 97)

The ad truly stands out from the crowd with the unique journey it takes viewers on, making for a very distinctive ad — allowing it to drive great reach and be noticed and remembered (Distinctiveness: 4.2 vs. 3.7 norm, Claimed Attention 4.1 vs. 3.8 norm, Brand Distinctiveness 4.0 vs. 3.6 norm).

And on top of that, the ad feels like a Warburton’s ad with good use of DBAs (orange color, orange trucks, bread, logo, etc.), their trademark inclusion of Bolton heritage and family-run authenticity, paired with cinematic, star-studded storytelling — it’s no wonder an incredible 91% of older respondents could recall the brand in the ad!

The ad also successfully conveys key things about the Warburtons’ brand that instill trust and reliability, with 60% of respondents believing the ad shows that Warburton’s is a “trusted brand,” while 57% say it’s a brand with a “well-known brand heritage.” 

The ad strongly resonates with audiences. They really enjoy it (Enjoyment: 4.1 vs. 3.8 norm), find it relevant (Relevance: 3.9 vs. 3.5 norm) and they understand it (Understanding: 4.4 vs. 4.2 norm).

And what’s more, the ad makes people feel something (Overall Emotion: 64 vs. 49 norm), specifically a whole lot of love (Love: 40% vs. 28%)! 

The highest spike of Love happens right at the beginning when we see Johnathan Warburton buttering his toast and Morgan Freeman narrating his movements. Laughter comes in when the woman realizes Morgan Freeman is speaking, which switches back to lots of Love through the various history scenes and whenever we see close ups of bread. There is also a lot of Love for Paddington and lots of Laughter during Morgan Freeman's “What’s a crumpet?” section. There’s Love for all the orange trucks and the newborn baby, and the ad finishes with more Love at the “there’ll always be a Warburton behind this desk” line at the end.

Even though it was a lengthy spot (two minutes long!), it made sense for what the brand was trying to do — celebrate and share their family history in breadmaking in their typical advertising format. In fact, that was what people enjoyed the most, with respondents sharing how they liked the ad’s story about the brand’s history (22%), with many finding the family tradition element heartwarming. Audiences also liked the people/characters (11%) and celebrities (9%) — with Morgan Freeman receiving an incredibly high Celebrity Appeal of 4.6 vs. 3.7 norm!

Here’s what some people had to say: 

• "Anything with Morgan Freeman in it is always going to be good. I love the story the ad tells, it's humourous but also very believable."

• "I liked how interesting the advert was and I love the fact that they were talking about how long they have been making bread for."

• "The story it told about the Warburton family and how they care about bread. I liked the voice over by Morgan Freeman and the funny line about crumpets."

• "Morgan Freeman has a voice made for this type of ad, amongst other things, and I like a brand story."

• "I liked that they told us the story of all the generations that have been baking for 150 years."

• "I liked the actor and the humour and the lovely story of Warburton’s"

• "I loved the sense of history. From the first loaf to now."

• "The family element, and that it started from a home tradition."

• "How the bread helps to keep family tradition alive."

What an entertaining and celebratory spot from Warburtons! What did you think? Let us know by interacting with our coverage of the ad on LinkedIn.

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