The actor Tom Holland, who will reprise his role in “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, returns to the world of advertising by voicing the iconic British character Percy Pig.
Percy Pig was created in the early 1990s by English retailer Marks & Spencer and is the face of a wide variety of pig-shaped treats.
Holland’s presence is the great novelty of the Marks & Spencer Christmas commercial and, furthermore, because it is the first time the character’s voice has been heard in almost 30 years of existence.
In the commercial, Percy is awakened in the dead of night by the magic of the Christmas fairy played by Dawn French (“Absolutely Fabulous,” “French and Saunders”). Percy explores the Stratford Foodhall and discovers all the food retail has to offer this Christmas, from Christmas cake to smoked salmon.
The actor said it took him “less than a second” to say yes to Percy’s voice. “I’ve loved Percy Pigs for as long as I can remember,” Holland told Subway.
“Getting the huff right was a challenge, I hope I got it right and everyone likes what they hear,” Holland added.
The commercial aired for the first time on November 3 and was presented on November 4 during the British broadcaster ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” program.
The campaign was created by Gray London with animation by MPC.
Sharry Cramond, M&S Food Marketing Director, said: “This year’s M&S Christmas Food holiday items are better than ever and who better to tell customers about a national treasure and much-loved icon like Percy Pig.” “Of course, he couldn’t have just any voice, for Tom Holland to give Percy Pig his first words is as exciting as it sounds,” he added.
It is not the first time that Holland is part of an advertisement. In 2017, the Cinépolis film chain launched a cinespot for its “Hechos de Cine” campaign, in which different film directors and actors appeared, both Mexican and international, including “Spider-man”.
In 2019, the same actor made a funny advertisement for the video game “Final Fantasy XIV”. In the video clip, Holland performed a series of physical challenges to try to become the “Warrior of Darkness.”
The films in the Spider-man saga are among the most profitable in the Marvel Universe in the cost-benefit ratio.
Spider-man 3, for example, cost 258 million dollars and generated a profit of 894 million, according to Statista.
Spider-man, meanwhile, generated 821 million at a cost of 129 million dollars.
The ratio in the case of Spider-man 2 was between 200 and 788 million dollars.