The guy in the Screwfix advert is Sir Mo Farah, Britain’s four-time Olympic gold medallist. And if you’ve seen the latest commercial, the one where a man keeps appearing out of nowhere shouting “PING!”, that’s him too.
Farah has become a familiar face in Screwfix advertising since joining the retailer’s “No Stopping You” campaign in October 2025.
His latest appearance, released on 5 October 2026, gives him a rather unusual job. Instead of running races or delivering tools, he’s turned himself into a human phone notification.
It’s called “Screwfix Rewards: Motifications”, and it’s probably his strangest advertising role yet.
What Happens in the New Screwfix Advert?
The latest advert takes a simple idea and runs with it. Screwfix customers receive notifications about offers and rewards on their phones. But Sir Mo Farah decides that an ordinary notification isn’t good enough.
He’ll deliver the message himself.
In one scene, Farah jumps out of a plumber’s van. In another, he’s hiding under the stairs among an electrician’s coats. A gardener gets an unexpected visit when he emerges from a hedge.
And then there’s Farah climbing scaffolding, carrying an illuminated sign announcing another Screwfix reward.
Every appearance comes with the same enthusiastic sound effect: “PING!”
The tradespeople look understandably puzzled. Farah, meanwhile, appears delighted with his new responsibility.
That contrast is what makes the commercial funny. One of Britain’s most decorated athletes has apparently decided that delivering phone notifications is a job worth doing personally.
The campaign promotes Screwfix Rewards, the retailer’s loyalty programme. Rather than explaining every benefit in a conventional sales pitch, the advert makes the notification itself the joke.
What’s the Advert Actually Promoting?
Screwfix Rewards offers participating customers access to benefits such as exclusive offers, surprise perks and Spend & Save rewards.
The October 2026 commercial aims to encourage more customers to sign up and use the programme.
It’s a change from Farah’s earlier appearances, when the focus was on getting tools and supplies to customers quickly.
Who Is Sir Mo Farah?
If you’re wondering why a famous athlete is working at Screwfix, there’s a fairly obvious connection.
Farah is one of Britain’s most successful distance runners. He won two gold medals at the London 2012 Olympics, taking the 5,000m and 10,000m titles.
Four years later, he repeated the achievement at Rio 2016.
That made him a four-time Olympic champion and one of the most recognisable faces in British sport.
His association with running gave Screwfix a straightforward advertising idea. If your business promises customers quick service, why not recruit a man famous for being fast?
Of course, there’s a slight twist to that logic. Farah made his name as a distance runner, rather than a sprinter.
But that hardly spoils the joke.
What Was Sir Mo Farah’s First Screwfix Advert?
Farah joined Screwfix’s “No Stopping You” advertising campaign in October 2025.
The retailer introduced him as an enthusiastic new member of its store team, using his sporting reputation to demonstrate the speed of its services.
The early commercials showed Farah helping staff prepare customer orders. In a follow-up film, titled “The New Recruit”, he takes Screwfix Sprint delivery rather too literally.
Rather than leaving the delivery to the usual service, he sets off on foot with the order himself.
The idea was simple: Screwfix wanted customers to know they could collect or receive certain orders without long delays.
At the time, the retailer highlighted two services:
- Click & Collect: Selected orders could be ready in as little as one minute.
- Screwfix Sprint Delivery: Eligible orders could arrive in as little as 20 minutes, subject to availability and location.
You can read the original Screwfix announcement introducing Sir Mo Farah.
How Many Screwfix Adverts Has Mo Farah Appeared In?
Farah has appeared across several films and promotional pieces within the wider “No Stopping You” campaign.
Three main phases explain how his role has developed.
| Campaign | Date | Main message |
|---|---|---|
| No Stopping You / The New Recruit | October 2025 | Fast collection and delivery |
| Screwfix Convenience | June 2026 | Sprint Delivery, Click & Collect and Check-In |
| Screwfix Rewards: Motifications | October 2026 | Loyalty benefits and rewards |
The June 2026 campaign took inspiration from sports advertising, using Farah’s reputation and athletic imagery to highlight Screwfix’s services.
By October, the retailer had moved away from simply showing how quickly customers could receive an order.
Farah was still playing the eager new recruit, but he now had a completely different assignment.
Who Made the Screwfix Advert?
The creative agency behind the campaign is M+C Saatchi Group UK.
The October 2026 “Motifications” commercial was directed by Andrew Gaynord, working with production company MindsEye.
The advertising also extends beyond television. Farah’s distinctive notification sound appears in radio and digital audio advertising, while outdoor and online executions show him delivering rewards messages.
For Screwfix, the wider campaign is about making its services memorable to tradespeople who have little time to spare.
Its marketing director, Jack Wallace, has previously explained that speed and convenience are major reasons customers choose the retailer.
M+C Saatchi’s challenge has been to make those fairly practical benefits interesting enough for people to remember.
Why Does the Mo Farah Screwfix Advert Work?
Celebrity advertising doesn’t automatically make a commercial interesting.
An athlete appears, delivers a line about a product and collects a fee. We’ve seen that formula hundreds of times.
What makes the Screwfix campaign a little different is that Farah has a character to play.
He’s not simply Sir Mo Farah endorsing a retailer. He’s an exceptionally enthusiastic employee who approaches ordinary jobs with the determination of an Olympic champion.
That gives the creative team more room to develop the joke.
In the original commercials, his enthusiasm made sense because the subject was speed. He could help pick orders or run deliveries.
The “Motifications” campaign takes the character somewhere less predictable.
There’s no sporting connection to a phone notification, yet the audience already understands why Farah is there. He’s the recruit who takes everything a little too seriously.
That’s the clever part of the campaign. Screwfix has made Farah’s character useful beyond its original speed message.
The latest advert also manages to explain a loyalty programme without turning into a list of membership benefits.
People may forget the individual offers. They’re less likely to forget Mo Farah appearing from a hedge shouting “PING!”
Whether that translates into more people signing up for Screwfix Rewards is a separate question. The publicly available campaign material doesn’t establish its commercial results.
But as a piece of advertising, it has a clear idea and a recognisable character.
What Is the Music in the Screwfix Advert?
Viewers sometimes search for the music used in Screwfix commercials.
The most noticeable audio feature in the October 2026 “Motifications” advert is Farah’s repeated “PING!” sound.
I haven’t found a verified song title for the current commercial, so it would be misleading to name one.
The soundtrack may also differ between the television, online and shorter versions of the campaign.
Where Was the Screwfix Advert Filmed?
The latest commercial shows several working environments, including a plumber’s van, an electrician’s workplace, a garden and scaffolding.
However, the campaign information I’ve checked doesn’t identify a specific filming address.
The locations are part of the joke: Farah turns up wherever tradespeople are working, even when there’s no obvious place for him to hide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the man in the latest Screwfix advert?
It’s Sir Mo Farah, the British Olympic distance runner. He stars in the October 2026 “Screwfix Rewards: Motifications” commercial.
Is that really Mo Farah in the Screwfix advert?
Yes. Sir Mo Farah has been appearing in Screwfix advertising since October 2025.
What is the new Screwfix advert called?
The latest advert is called “Screwfix Rewards: Motifications”. It features Farah delivering rewards notifications in person.
Why is Mo Farah advertising Screwfix?
His reputation for speed made him a natural choice for a campaign promoting fast collection and delivery. Screwfix has since developed his role into a recurring comedy character.
Who is the actor in the Screwfix advert?
Sir Mo Farah is the main celebrity performer. He’s best known for his athletics career, rather than acting.
Who created the Mo Farah Screwfix campaign?
M+C Saatchi Group UK created the campaign. Andrew Gaynord directed the October 2026 “Motifications” film.
The Marketing Blog’s Verdict
Screwfix has made a sensible decision by keeping Mo Farah in its advertising.
The first campaign had a clear connection between an athlete known for speed and a retailer selling convenience.
The challenge was finding a reason to bring him back without telling exactly the same joke.
“Motifications” does that by giving Farah a new task while keeping the familiar overenthusiastic employee character.
It’s ridiculous, but that’s rather the point.
And the next time someone mentions the Screwfix advert, there’s a reasonable chance they’ll remember the man shouting “PING!” even if they’ve forgotten what he was advertising.
For more famous faces appearing in television advertising, see our guide to commercial actors and the biggest adverts.
Sources and Further Reading
- Screwfix Media Centre – Introducing Sir Mo Farah
- Creative Salon – Screwfix Rewards: Motifications
- Retail Gazette – Screwfix Convenience Campaign
- FEATS – Motifications Production Details
About the Author
Gavan Corry is a journalist and editor of The Marketing Blog. He covers advertising campaigns, the people appearing in commercials and the creative agencies behind some of Britain’s best-known adverts.
