When Jeremy Clarkson drops a new advert, you can bet it won’t be ordinary. His latest one for Hawkstone lager was filmed like a premium TV commercial, featured 34 British farmers singing opera, and ended with Clarkson himself declaring, “It is f***ing good.”
No surprise then that the regulators stepped in and banned it from TV. But here’s the twist. The second the ban was announced, people wanted to see it even more. The ad racked up hundreds of thousands of views on Instagram within a day and sparked conversations across every corner of social media.
This is a brilliant reminder that in today’s marketing world, TV approval is no longer the ultimate goal. Sometimes, not getting approved is part of the strategy. By creating something too edgy for broadcast, Clarkson and his team created the exact kind of content people love to share. It feels rebellious, unfiltered and authentic, which fits perfectly with his personal brand and the Hawkstone story.
It also echoes one of the most famous examples of this tactic. A few years back, Iceland launched a Christmas ad featuring a palm oil message and an animated orangutan. It was banned from TV because of technicalities around political advertising. But what happened next? It went viral. It became the number one Christmas ad on social media that year. People talked about it, shared it, debated it and championed it.
The lesson here is simple. People don’t just want to be sold to. They want to be part of something interesting. They want to share something that feels like it’s not supposed to be seen. The word “banned” instantly sparks curiosity and makes us feel like we are in on a secret.
Clarkson knows his audience. He knows that his fans love his unfiltered style. He knows that his haters will talk about him regardless. He also knows that the Hawkstone brand is not about playing it safe. It is about celebrating real British farming in a cheeky, no nonsense way.
For marketers, this is inspiring. You do not always need the biggest media budget or the perfect TV spot. You need to create something worth talking about. Something that makes people stop scrolling and say, “Wait, what?”
So, next time you are planning a campaign, ask yourself:
- Would people actually choose to watch this?
- Does it feel authentic to our brand?
- Does it make people feel like they are part of something bigger than just an advert?
Because as Clarkson has just proved, sometimes the best ads are the ones you cannot put on TV.
