Coca Cola teams up with the Premier League to remind us that people really, really, love football

If you’ve always wanted to see Tottenham Hotspur midfielder turned surprisingly competent Match of the Day pundit Jermaine Jenas transformed into a slab of freshly fried battered cod, today’s your lucky day.

The ex-Newcastle player’s surreal turn as a talking lump of fish is part of a new M&C Saatchi campaign which unites the Premier League with Coca Cola in a celebration of the sport’s ability to bring all kinds of people together, united by a mutual love of football.

Where Everyone Plays “highlights the nation’s passion for football,” bringing TV viewers a glimpse into the life of unique characters like “Speedo Mick”, a budgie smuggler wearing Everton superfan, and Kayla the Eagle, Crystal Palace’s match day mascot.

The strangely stirring advert – the emotional heft of which might have something to do with the canny deployment of Yazoo’s 1982 tearjerker Only You – features 250 “real supporters” amassed from each of the Premier League’s 20 teams. Manchester United hotshot Jesse Lingard also makes a fan-pleasing cameo.

The fizzy-drink merchants plan to take the fan-centred experience into the real world, with Where Everyone Plays featuring an experiential element, wherein Coca Cola will team up with StreetGames, a charity that aims to harness football’s power to creative positive change in the lives of disadvantaged young people right across the UK.

“I see the ad as an authentic and compelling love letter to all the fans of the Premier League on behalf of Coca-Cola," says director Stacy Wall. “We feature real fans who contributed such magical integrity, reality and authenticity to the ad.”