Birds Eye is up-dating its original 1970s TV commercials for beefburgers featuring a lovelorn girl and a boy.

The new TV advertising campaign, which starts next week and stars Scary Spice's nine-year-old cousin Christian Cooke, right.

The 1970s commercial, directed by Alan Parker, showed besotted Mary pining over Ben, who spurned her advances in favour of a burger and chip meal, and eventually emigrated to Australia - although he finally admitted he would miss her ''a bit''.

In contrast, the 1990s Mary is cheeky and plays football so well that Ben mistakes her for a boy.

The commercial also addresses recent fears over BSE, reassuring parents about the quality of beef used.