At the end of the first week of June, a week before Russia 2018 kick off, Paddy Power unveiled that its controversial polar bear graffiti stunt was actually a charity awareness drive.
The World Cup ambush stunt angered many members of the public and marketers alike when the bookie leaked/seeded so called live footage of a Russian polar bear emblazoned with an England flag.
Outage and backlash continued for two days post launch – which allegations that the campaign was ‘shameful’ and exploitative’ until the newspaper led reveal that it was in fact a shock-and-awe stunt to raise attention to the plight of the polar bear in the Russian Arctic.
The spot reveal was amplified through a full newspaper wrap ad in London’s The Metro newspaper.
Whichever @paddypower ad agency thought this was clever needs to take a long hard look at themselves. Awful on so many levels pic.twitter.com/QiPxSbxLyj
— Drew Barrand (@DrewBSport) June 5, 2018
“Please fur-give us. Our footage of a spray-painted polar bear wasn’t real. But the animal’s plight very much is. Our footage caused social media to meltdown almost as quickly as the polar bear’s home in the Russian Arctic. And while the bear’s habitat is reduced massively in size each year, with scientists crying out for information and access to the region, Putin turns a blind eye because of big business and oil.
“We can’t bear it any more so Paddy Power has teamed up with Polar Bears International to fund their first Russian polar bear research programme. Yes, We’re putting our big furry pals front and centre, because while the England team can build for the future, the polar bear is skating on thin ice.”
Comment:
Paddy Power’s multiple strands of ambush marketing around Russia 2018 has certainly generated plenty of attention and ensured that the bookie brand has been part of the World Cup conversation in the UK.
Its other World Cup work ranges from the LGBT cause cash giveaway for host nation goals called ‘From Russia With Equal Love’ (see case study) to its role as the official sponsor of the rival CONIFA World Cup 2018 (see case study).
Ever the mischief-making rebel, challenger brand, but we not sure we are fully supportive of any campaign that aims to deliberately mislead the public through such controversy.
It simply adds to the fake news and lies from officials, brands and polluting so much contemporary politics and social media.
This stunt had similar echoes of the same brand’s pre Brazil 2014 ‘Shave the Rain Forest’ soccer stunt – which began by fooling the public before it was revealed as a Greenpeace partnership.
Paddy Power – Shave the Rainforest from Lucky Generals on Vimeo.
While Paddy Power brand boss Paul Mallon denies that the company believes that outrage is the most effective way to gain public attention he does confess that this kind of prankvertising approach is all about cut through.
“Being original is the best way to grab attention. Shock and outrage just for the sake of it are done. Very little is shocking these days to audiences who’ll get very engaged with intelligent political debates, but then also be glued to Love Island,” he argued.
“People are consuming so much content in all shapes and forms that being outrageous just for the hell of it is a huge risk to getting cut-through. So we don’t want to be just taking the piss with no sharp-witted element behind it (mostly, at least).”
“Ultimately my job is about not preaching to the converted but trying to get Paddy Power as a brand out of our sector,” he continued.
“After the World Cup we’ll know whether this campaign was worth it, but I’m really proud of this, and how we’ve worked for several months with Polar Bears International, dozens of PP staff (from cyber threat departments to senior counsels) and the Pitch Marketing Group who came to us with the idea.”
Links:
Paddy Power
https://www.youtube.com/user/PaddyPowerVideo
