The Making of Tesco’s Love Letter to Lunchtime

In its latest campaign, BBH London has promoted Tescos Meal Deal from lunchtime staple to cultural icon. Known for its affordability and variety, the Meal Deal has long held a cherished place in the nation's daily routine. But how do you elevate a beloved lunchtime favourite to something bigger?

I spoke to Thomas Reynolds, associate creative director at BBH London, about the vision behind this vibrant celebration of British Meal Deal culture. Thomas and his team achieved this by balancing bold cinematics with authenticity, drawing inspiration from unexpected places like fashion films and street photography. Their goal was to capture the fierce yet lighthearted debates about the ‘best’ Meal Deal combos that dominate social media – and certainly, plenty of work group chats. By using real voices and personalities from across Britain, the campaign brings these conversations to life in a way that’s playful, relatable, and distinctly modern.

From meticulous casting to exploring niche online communities, every detail was considered to reflect the genuine passion people have for their choices. The result is a spot that’s not only visually striking but packed with knowing nods to the nation’s collective obsession with this simple, yet essential part of the British lunchtime experience.

LBB> The campaign gives Tesco's Meal Deal an ‘icon’ status. How did you approach visually conveying that elevated status in the film? 

Thomas> We started by looking at work away from the supermarket sector – fashion films, music videos and fan-driven football content too. We decided quite early on that a cinematic approach to the visuals would really help add an extra layer of depth to the look of the film; the colours are rich and vibrant but not oversaturated and garish, the film grain gives us this sense of authenticity and a more organic feel. Another thing we looked into was contemporary portrait photography when working out how we wanted to compose each shot, we actually wrote the script alongside photographs of what we thought each character would look like and the final film didn’t deviate much from that.

LBB> Tell us about the initial creative idea compared to how it turned out. What inspired this approach, and why did you feel it resonated with the Meal Deal audience? 

Thomas> The idea was always to present a cultural cross-section of British Meal Deal lovers that leverages the nationwide love and obsession for a Tesco Meal Deal. The first scripts were set in multiple locations across the entire UK, but to simplify and because it’s the most relatable lunch spot, we decided to localise the entire story to one park but include a variety of demographics. 

The inspiration is rooted in the audience itself, which is why I think it resonates. The popular truth around rating Meal Deals, particularly on social media, was our jump off point and from there it became a question of how to bring that behaviour to life in the most knowing and entertaining way we could dream up.

LBB> The Meal Deal has long been a staple in the UK. How did you balance the nostalgic connection people have with it while introducing these new improvements? 

Thomas> Your Meal Deal is an emotional choice and that was core to the idea because it’s probably what generates positive conversation even if it leads people to behave somewhat irrationally when defending it, which can be funny, right! The link to the product came straight off the back of that; if you’re going to argue that your Meal Deal is unquestionably better than everyone else’s then that connects nicely to the fact that all Meal Deals are better, not just yours. We tried to keep the takeaway message as simple as that.

LBB> What was the creative process like working to bring the concept to life? 

Thomas> Really, really fun. We had a lot of laughs researching Reddit threads, Facebook groups, comment sections and our own friendship circles to nail down the kind of language that people use when weighing in on Meal Deal choices. All of the lines in the script were close to what people had said online on and in Whatsapp groups, unashamedly too because this had to feel as genuine as possible.

LBB> The spot ramps up with competing opinions on the best combo. How did you keep the energy engaging yet true to everyday Meal Deal enthusiasts?

Thomas> Again, I think it’s in the lines spoken by the characters. To stay engaged with the ad and really do the job of raising awareness of the new Meal Deals, people had to see a bit of themselves or what they’d seen others say online. I guess, hearing Meal Deal ratings being said out loud by a real, human face instead of reading as a written comment is an exciting, new, playful way of experiencing Meal Deal ratings competitiveness.

LBB> What can you tell us about the casting choices for the ad? What were you trying to achieve with it? And do I spy a few iconic faces? 

Thomas> I knew from the get go that the casting was probably the single most important thing that would determine if this spot was successful or not. We wanted to entirely street cast to get a sense of authenticity and ‘realness’ that audiences could connect with but we needed people that could deliver specific lines efficiently on shoot day too so we went for a mix of actors, online personalities (yes that is the Fish and Rice Cake guy) and just genuinely interesting people we knew would hold attention. 

There are a few other IYKYK easter-egg types in there too. There’s George Skeggs aka Soho George aka the best dressed man on the planet. I photographed Nay, the biker girl, a few years ago and knew I wanted her from the off, she is pretty big in the UK BikeLife scene. Chris Franks who played the male punk is actually the ad’s very talented music composer and dresses like that day to day, when we knew we needed another punk to complement the other, he was the best person to fill that role. Coolest person I know, ha!

LBB> With a wide range of improvements to the Meal Deal, including healthier options, how did you ensure the campaign emphasised variety while still feeling cohesive? 

Thomas> We spent lots of time with the internal Tesco food team marrying Meal Deals to each character to ensure that we highlighted as many of the new offerings as possible while retaining balance. It was fun deciding who had what because it does add quite a lot to their character within the context of the film. Only George Skeggs is OG enough to demand a Turkish Delight, I’ve often seen bulky scaffolders buying two Meal Deals at once because they’re such hungry lads and there’s something anarchical about a punk getting messy with a rowdy crisp sandwich.

LBB> What is your personal Meal Deal combo? 

Thomas> Always a Prawn Mayo Sandwich. Thai Chilli Sensations are relatively new on the scene but probably the best crisps money can buy. I’ll mix up my drink from time to time but you can’t go wrong with a full-fat Coke, can you. Bosh!