A star-studded cast featuring Romeo Beckham, James Corden, Naomi Campbell and Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery recreate the opening scene of the 2000 film Billy Elliot for this Burberry Christmas ad.
Julie Walters, who played the title character's dance teacher in the film, and Sir Elton John also appear in the ad. Man, if they were jumping on trampolines to get this footage, I hope they weren't making Naomi do that in heels. That'd be a broken ankle for sure.
If this concept seems like a random nostalgia choice to you, Burberry is actually celebrating the film's 15th birthday as it jumps headfirst, along with every other British marketer, into the leaf pile of Christmas advertising. (This is Beckham's second holiday ad for Burberry, by the way, following last year's more elaborate production.)
As good as all these attractive celebrities look in Burberry coats and scarves, I kind of wish they'd cast some of the enterprising young men from the, ahem, "Burberry cap" subculture to dance to T-Rex. It's probably not an association that Burberry likes, but why not steer into the skid? It's Christmastime.
