Four Lads in Jeans make comeback appearance in new advert (2024)

The men behind the meme sensation Four Lads In Jeans have recreated the photo thatlaunched them to internet stardom 2020, posing in the same outfits they wore in their original shot to appear in a new advert for betting company Paddy Power.

The jokey advert, which stars actor Danny Dyer, promotes Euro 2024. Actor Danny, 46,pulled pints and spouted his now iconic co*ckney rhyming slang as he joinsPeter Crouch, 43, in the hysterical new commercial ahead of the upcoming tournament in Germany.

Kicking off the countdown to the much-anticipated tournament, Danny stripped down to his swimming trunks in the ad that boasted of England's unique position of favourite to win the tournament.

Dodgy behaviour abroad, rubbish holiday fashion sense and the less-than seamless Brexit process were all playfully teased as characters from around Europe were questioned about their love of the English.

In a segment featuring an Italian woman joking that England are her favourite because of the English's 'effortless style', the shot cuts to the four lads in their now infamous outfits, before she is heard saying 'Mammia mia', after spotting them.

Jamie Phillips, Connor Humpage, Kevin Rooney and Alex Lacey unwittingly became famous after posting a photo of themselves on a 'boozy brunch with the lads' in Birminghamwearing skinny jeans and tight tops.

Speaking recently about their internet fame, the four friends explained that while they shot to infamy for wearing skinny jeans, they were initially quite confused by all the attention.

Connor Humpage said: 'We literally just went on a lad's boozy brunch and asked a random stranger to take a picture of us and then all of a sudden it went viral.

'And what people don't know is that the photo had been up before it became a meme so it was a shock to all of us.'

'And we didn't understand, we were just wearing what everyone else was wearing at the time.'

'People have said that we were behind the times and wondered why we were wearing skinny jeans for so long but they're only seeing a snapshot.

'We'd stopped wearing skinny jeans basically as soon as the photo came out because the fashion had changed.'

The notoriety provided a number of opportunities for the four: for example, theyappeared in ad campaigns for McDonald's and Sony noise-cancelling headphones, as well as featuring onBBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.

They appeared during the 2022 Brit Awards in a skit alongside comedian and host for the night Jack Whitehall.

In addition, they have been photographed with prolific people including football legend and commentator Chris Kamara and bodybuilder Martyn Ford.

Perhaps most notably of all, In August 2022, the four ladswere honoured with a statue in the spot where the famous photo was taken.

Created by the artist William Douglas, also known as Tat Vision, it was unveiled outside All Bar One in Grand Central, Birmingham.

According to the artist, who performed the unveiling, he made the piece fromwomen mannequins in tight-clothing, before adding papier-mâché and PVA glue, and covering it all in bronze paint.

Before the great unveiling, the artist wrote on his Instagram page: 'Come down and see my four lads in jeans bronze statue [on] Saturday outside All Bar One Grand Central.

'A tribute to these lads inspired by them old Greek statues. These four men ready for an adventure like the first bit in Homer's Odyssey, before the adventure.'

Despite now learning to enjoy the fame and lean into the joke, the four men admitted that being unexpectedly catapulted into the spotlightfour years ago took its toll.

For example, plumber and heating engineer Alex Lacey found himself constantly battling a barrage of prank calls and trolls after his work number became known.

And things got worse when trolls discovered his mother's Instagram account and started commenting on photos.

'They trolled my mum, they got her Instagram and would comment and troll her and make up stuff about me,' said Adam.

At the time of speaking, he was due to marry in a couple of weeks, and he said the situation had been 'difficult' for his fiancee, adding: 'At the end of the day we still all have our day jobs you know, I'm a plumber.'

Tattoo artist Connor had a mixed experience after the photo became an internet meme, as after the initial photo, he found his business was boosted with the help of social media.

'I had people coming up to me and saying 'I didn't know you did tattoos,' he said.

'They'd come to my social media pages and comment "came for the meme stayed for the tattoos'' and it was nice but also felt like I was still being linked to that one photo.

'But yeah I think people think we're just the meme and they don't treat you like people.'

He added: 'It was tough, you'd go round and hear people giggling and pointing behind your back.'

Fellow 'lad'Kevin Rooney concurred, adding: 'Yeah, no one would ever say anything to our faces, just behind our backs. Just internet trolling really.'

However, now the Paddy Power advert has become another opportunity for the men, following their rise to internet fame.

As well as featuring the four lads, the commercial takes a gentle poke at the English, making a joke of how its football fans are seen abroad.

One part of the ad shows Danny Dyer sitting by a swimming pool in Spain, looking at a menu, before ordering 'egg and chips', then saying to the camera: 'Jog on, we're not that bad are we?'.

Another section of the commercial shows Peter Crouch donning a huge England flag and matching hat, while yelling: 'It's coming home!'.

But despite England's apparent edge in the competition the ad ended with Danny admitting: 'I'm properly bricking it right now'.

Sincedominating Italy 3-1 in their European Qualifier overnight, England have established themselves as the 4/1 favourites with Sky Bet to win Euro 2024 in Germany.

Gareth Southgate's side were previously joint-favourites with France at 9/2 - however - with the Three Lions boasting arguably their best squad in the past two decades that includes the likes of Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka - there's confidence in the betting market that this is the team that can finally bring home a maiden European trophy.