Hovis remasters Ridley Scott's classic 'Boy on a Bike' ad after 46 years

Hovis has remastered its iconic "Boy on a Bike" commercial, directed by Sir Ridley Scott in the '70s, for a modern audience. The spot was originally created by then-agency CDP in 1973, and was one of the breakthrough ads of Scott's career. It features a delivery boy pushing a basket of bread on a bike up Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset, then riding back down again to the bakery. It has been digitally remastered in 4K by Ridley Scott Associates and the British Film Institute National Archive. It's now set to a re-recording of Dvorak's "New World Symphony" by the Ashington Colliery Brass Brand, from a new generation of members of the original band who recorded it. (You can see more about how it was done in a Behind the Scenes film, below, which features Scott talking about the original shoot.) The ad will run on the U.K.'s ITV from tonight (June 3) and comes as as the bread brand aims to go back to its roots and heritage with a focus on craftsmanship. Jeremy Gibson, marketing director at Hovis, which is now a joint venture between Premier Foods and the Gores Group, says in a statement: "We are seeing a mass movement across the country celebrating craftsmanship, traditional products and U.K. produce, and this advert is one of the most iconic examples of a brand celebrating the ties that bind us as communities and as a country, drawing on tradition but informing our future." Hovis has revisited the "Boy on a Bike" theme in the past. In 2015, for example, it brought high-end effects to the motif in an effort to appeal to a younger audience.

Hovis remasters Ridley Scott's classic 'Boy on a Bike' ad after 46 years

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