10 Adverts from the 1990s You May Have Forgotten, Starring Footballers

The not-so-ancient tradition of footballers starring in promos for their favourite cars, watches, sports drinks, food outlets, perfumes and revolutionary bubble-juggling games has come a long way in the past few decades.

Some are funny, some are clever, but most are just uncomfortable for all involved.

We’ll take a look back at some of the more memorable ones from the 1990s you might have forgotten.

Nike (Various)

Nike pioneered the concept of cramming an ad full with football stars long before it was taken to literally another planet by Samsung.

That one drew its inspiration from the 1990s "Match In Hell" featuring the likes of Eric Cantona, Patrick Kluivert, Ronaldo and Luis Figo.

Nike’s other gems from that era included "Park Life" and "The Mission."

Walkers (Gary Lineker and Michael Owen)

Perhaps only Gary Lineker can make the theft of a child’s food charming.

The inspiration behind “Salt and Lineker” crisps didn’t stop there, starring again as a singing bus driver for Walkers before playing a darker role as the bad guy after being upstaged by Michael “Cheese and Owen”.

McDonald's (Scott Parker)

Don't be thrown by his mum calling him "Jimmy." This ad for the 1994 World Cup features future England player Scott Parker juggling in his backyard and provides further evidence of the link between takeaways and captaining your country.

Danepak (Peter Schmeichel)

Peter Schmeichel never really gets out of first gear when singing about bacon, which isn’t particularly surprising.

What is surprising is that he was invited back to make a second commercial for the product. Fast forward a decade or so, however, and it’s fair to say the Scandinavian-footballers-awkwardly-singing-about-food market has been well and truly mastered.

Sugar Puffs (Kevin Keegan)

It’s the tactical gamble that can make or break a managerial career. But for Kevin Keegan, bringing on cereal mascot the “Honey Monster” in the cup final at Wembley really paid off.

Genius, and much more watchable than Keegan’s earlier foray into the world of advertising.

Pizza Hut (Gareth Southgate, Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle)

Nothing quite like pizza to get over a crucial penalty miss in the European Championships.

In this commercial for Pizza Hut, Gareth Southgate is the victim of some fairly unimaginative wordplay from Chris Waddle and Stuart Pearce, who later went on to coach England’s under-21s and assault a car salesman in this clip for Gocompare.com.

Bull Boys Shoes (Alan Hansen)

The production budget for this one might have been blown on signed Alan Hansen shinpads, which might explain a pretty underwhelming video. Still, though, a catchy song…

Fruitino (Rene Higuita)

Rene Higuita's obnoxious choice of full kit for a trip to the supermarket and ignorance of positional responsibility is overlooked as he sells sugary fruit juice in this upbeat commercial for Fruitino.

And yes, he does a scorpion kick. 

Lucozade (John Barnes)

John Barnes swings wildly between looking presentable and as if he will collapse from exhaustion in this commercial for Lucozade.

Naturally, it ends with the former England man drop-kicking an empty can into the bin, which probably inspired something similar years later.

McDonald's (Alan Shearer)

It's fair to say that only in a commercial would Alan Shearer be spotted at McDonald's during his playing days.

You can imagine the surprise of this cashier, then, who turned out to be his biggest fan.