A postwoman from Shillingford St George, near Exeter, will make her screen debut in front of millions of viewers as she features in the special Christmas version of Royal Mail’s first major TV advertising campaign in six years.
Rachel Boyce, 46, who is based at Exeter’s Royal Mail delivery office, is starring in the advert called ‘We Love Parcels’ which celebrates the 1 billion parcels its postal workers deliver a year.
The advert will be screened during Monday night’s ‘A Mother’s Son’ on ITV. The advertising campaign has been launched at the start of Royal Mail’s build up to Christmas; the company opened 10 temporary parcel sort centres across the UK on Monday, November 4, as part of its planning for the festive season deliveries.
Rachel was chosen to appear in the ad after Royal Mail issued a call to 132,000 of its front line staff to invite them to audition for a part. A total of 2,500 employees applied and Rachel was one of 25 who were selected to star in the commercial after auditioning in front of an accomplished judging panel of film producers and directors.
Rachel, who volunteers as a street pastor in Exeter, and has worked for the Royal Mail for close to 20 years, said: “I love my job, especially the customer-facing part and seeing peoples’ faces when I deliver a parcel from their loved ones. Being part of the ad has been a great experience, and my husband and I can’t wait to see it aired on TV!”
The advert is accompanied by a special version of the Beatles song All You Need is Love. It was sung by the official Royal Mail choir and recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios, 46 years after The Beatles recorded the original version there.