Paddy Power has released a campaign poking fun at the billionaire takeover trend to mark the start of the 2023-24 football season.
Created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, the 60-second ad takes inspiration from football clubs being bought and how the fans unashamedly get on board when it’s their club receiving the cash.
It opens in a pub where supporters of the fictitious Hardlypool FC are reacting to former England international Peter Crouch discussing the latest club takeover.
One of the fans then proudly declares that their club has “something that money can’t buy” but is interrupted by another fan announcing that the team has been bought by an oil baron and that they’re rich.
Their attitude soon shifts and the pub-goers erupt into a revised version of Ginger Rogers’ We’re in the Money, with lyrics like: “Gone are my ethics and gone are my fears, we’ve been mid-table for too many years.”
When the crowd arrive at their fancy new grounds and attempt to buy a season ticket, they’re greeted with: “There’s a 12-year waiting list, mate.”
It was directed by Freddie Waters through Pulse Films, art directed by Kieron Roe and written by Dom Moira.
It was created by Lawrence Bushell and Luke Till, the same team who worked on Paddy Power’s campaign for Cheltenham 2023.
“In true Paddy Power fashion, this spot aims to tackle what everyone really thinks about sportswashing, but don’t necessarily have the guts to say,” Till and Bushell said.
“We reckon creatives Dom and Kier took on the challenge like prime Maldinis, and hope the nation does too.”
The campaign will run across social, out of home and radio with media planning and buying handled by EssenceMediacom.
Tow Muldowney, head of marketing, Sportsbook at Paddy Power, added: “Football has put the 'oil' in 'loyal' of late, with fans changing their tune faster than Jordan Henderson when a Saudi-backed billionaire rolls up in their gold-plated sports car.
“We couldn’t resist a sheik-y dig at the utter absurdity of it all. And don’t even get me started on Jay-Z! But at the heart of this advert is the excitement of the start of season that fans of all clubs feel up and down the country. Football, you gotta love it.”