Gazza’s tears my No.1 ad!
LINEKER CHOOSES HIS ALL-TIME FAVOURITE WALKERS CRISPS AD
IF there is one thing Gary Lineker is known for as much as his incredible career in football, it is his love of crisps.
The Leicester legend has been the face of Walkers Crisps since 1994, and has been seen happily tucking into a packet of the city’s finest snack on and off for almost 30 years.
He has starred in 150-plus adverts since his 1994 debut and now, for the first time, he has revealed his personal favourite.
Back in 1996, the former Leicester
City and England striker starred in an advert for Walkers’ new Salt and Lineker crisps.
In the advert, Gary tucks in while in the stands at a football match, with a familiar face right behind him enviously eyeing up his snack – the fan in question being Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne.
Lineker manages to dodge Gazza’s efforts to grab a handful, all while keeping his eye on the match.
When a goal goes in they stand up to celebrate and that’s when Gazza makes his move and shoves his hand into the packet.
Realising what is going on, Lineker quickly squeezes the packet with Gazza’s hand still inside.
At this point, we hear a crunch and Gazza begins to cry, water spurting from his eyes, as Nessun Dorma – the opera tune used in coverage of the 1990 World Cup in Italy – begins to play over the top of it. Gazza, of course, is remembered for his tears on the pitch at the tournament when he realised a booking during the semi-final against West Germany would rule him out of the final, had England reached it.
Thanks to a goal from Lineker, the match ended 1-1 and went to the infamous penalty shoot-out, from which the Germans emerged victorious.
It is a peak-90s advert and is clearly much-loved by Lineker himself, who shared the video of the advert on Twitter to his 8.2 million followers this week.
Replying to an original tweet by The Sportsman, he wrote “My favourite of the 150-odd I’ve done”, along with laughing and crying emojis. It’s some choice, as well, as he has starred in adverts alongside a range of stars from music, sport and entertainment.
The Salt & Lineker flavour returned in May 2021 as part of a range of flavours celebrating a summer of sport last year, especially Euro 2020, which had been delayed from the year before due to the pandemic.
What’s your favourite? Email: