Paddy Power continued its notorious and irreverent reputation for cheeky guerrilla marketing with a Ryder Cup ambush campaign fronted by the UK’s most infamous euro sceptic Nigel Farage.
Shot in the style of a party political broadcast and delivered from a golf course (Kent’s Westerham Golf Club), the bookie’s campaign is spearheaded by a spot which, unlikely as it initially sounds, features the UKIP boss listing his reasons why golf fans should back Team Europe.
This comic reversal is a tongue-in-cheek online ad, neatly coinciding with party conference season, sees Farage preaching the virtues of Europe – from the wine and the food, to the transport systems and….. the greatest golfers in the world.
‘I’m not the greatest fan of an ever closer union inside Europe, but when it comes to the Ryder Cup we’re better together,’ guffaws Farage. ‘I’m urging all my fellow Europeans to get behind Team Europe and send Uncle Sam packing.’
In classic Farage style, the TVC ends with the legendary anti-EU politician drinking from his signature pint of beer.
Farage is also heavily featured in the accompanying Paddy Power Ryder Cup Blog (see http://blog.paddypower.com/tag/ryder-cup/).
‘The Americans are bottlers. They bottled it last time and they’ll do it again. Zach Johnson will spend more time in the sand than David Hasselhoff, and the fans will need their hardhats when Keegan Bradley steps up to the tee,’ continues the UKIP leader.
‘Just as it was in Medinah, the spirit of Seve will be with Team Europe. He was like Churchill – but thin, good looking and Spanish.’
Comment
Farage, like Paddy Power, divides opinion like few others.
Indeed, while some on Twitter laughed at the bookie’s clever and cheeky marketing coup, others threatened to cancel their Paddy Power account for associating with the politician.
This spot follows an increasingly strong heritage of Paddy Power Ryder Cup ambush stunts.
Back in 2012 it flew planes over Medinah Country Club with messages in support of the European Team and wrote ‘For Seve’ and ‘Go Europe’ in so called Sky Tweets in smoke across the blue skies.
While the Irish-based gambling outfit erected a huge logo in the field next to the Celtic Manor course, in full view of TV cameras, during the 2010 Ryder Cup.
Terry Matthews, the owner of Celtic Manor was so angry at the time he described Paddy Power as ‘scum’ in a TV interview.
Something that almost certainly brought a smile to the faces of Paddy Power’s marketing team (who’s philosophy is ‘as long as it keeps punters entertained and no one goes to jail’ then its fair game).
Links
Paddy Power Website
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Ryder Cup 2014
