As well as being the latest Hollywood star to work for the bank, Jackson is the second actor from the film 'Pulp Fiction' to star in its ads. He follows in the footsteps of British actor Tim Roth, who starred in a spot for Barclays in 2000 and appeared alongside Jackson in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 movie.
The new campaign was created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, which replaced Leagas Delaney on the 拢15m Barclays account in August 2001 without a pitch.
Jackson, seen lately reprising his role as Jedi Knight Mace Windu in 'Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones', is becoming a feature on the British advertising scene. In January, he began doing voiceover work on KFC's advertising, created by Ogilvy & Mather.
Leagas Delaney created the first series of ads for Barclays to star celebrities. The ads, themed around the idea of "big", starred actors such as Sir Anthony Hopkins, Robbie Coltrane and Timothy Spall. However, Barclays was heavily criticised for the launch of the "big" campaign at a time when it was closing branches and making cutbacks.
The critcism led to the campaign being dropped and calls for a new direction, and the appointment of BBH. The agency was appointed without a pitch, following the arrival of Barclays' new marketing director Simon Gulliford in August 2001.
Barclays refused to comment on its advertising prior to an official launch next week.
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