#btsia Shortlist Focus: Paddy Power – England Til I Dye

Brand: Paddy Power

Agency: Pitch Marketing Group

Entry: England Til I Dye

Category: Film Content

What’s it all about?

“Ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, whilst everyone was talking about hooligans and who England’s next scapegoat would be, the Russian Arctic’s endangered polar bears remained invisible.

“England football fans are synonymous with the St. George’s flag and famous for flying it wherever they go. So, when Paddy Power plotted to use the host nation’s most endangered animal as a canvas for an England flag, ‘spray-painting’ it with a bloody-looking red cross, the world thought we’d taken our usual ballsy marketing too far.

“Ballsy it might have been, but Paddy Power has balls of steel and a heart of gold, so there was always going to be more to this stunt than meets the eye.

“‘England til I Dye’ was a controversial integrated marketing campaign that contributed to Paddy Power’s most successful sporting event of all time. It also raised $50,000 to fund a world first Polar Bear conservation project in the Russian Arctic.”

Why do you think you made the shortlist?

“Creativity – for a non-FIFA sponsor, the World Cup is a notoriously difficult event for brands to crack. Our unique and creative idea helped Paddy Power buck the trend and be the No1 most talked about brand in World Cup conversations in the UK.

“Content – we worked with the best in the business in Framestore to ensure our ‘leak’ content would stand up to even the keenest scrutineer! Those with extreme OCD would have been proud of our attention to detail.

“Message – our ‘reveal’ content communicated a worthwhile message on a pressing global issue – the impact of global warming.”

What made this a great campaign to work on?

• “Filming in the Canadian outback with an actual Polar Bear – a 450kg apex predator
• “Working on a campaign with purpose at its core – raising awareness of the impact of global warming and the welfare of polar bear populations
• “Catfishing social media users through the creation (and purchase) of a number of fake social media profiles
• “A campaign highlight was reading through people’s reactions on social media at every stage of the leak. It’s safe to say people didn’t hold back – including Cardi B, one of the biggest social media influencers on the planet, who told Paddy Power to ‘spray paint your asshole!'”

Who was the MVP on this campaign?

“Jack McCombe – put his life on the line filming with Agee the polar bear and turning around all content and campaign planning/delivery in 3 months.

“Chris Allen – the master manipulator, created a campaign plan to dupe media, consumers and celebrities to deliver maximum outrage.

“Lee Cheney – director and lead on all production and edits, bringing to life the idea across multiple channels.

“Paul Mallon – the bravest client in town. It took an Irish man to put his balls on the line for England and a great cause.”

How do you plan to celebrate?

“Relocating to the Russian Arctic and starting a polar bear sanctuary.”

CREDITS

Pitch:

Chris Soult – the polar bear lover, raised the issue of their welfare in the Russian arctic

Henry Chappell – the creative force behind the original concept

Chris Allen – the architect who shaped the concept into a campaign

Lee Cheney – the production visionary who brought the concept to life

Jack McCombe – the hands-on team leader who delivered the campaign

Matthew Fryer – the animation Wizz who delivered the final video edits

Framestore – the Oscar award-winning CGI specialists who worked their magic on our film to make it as authentic as possible.

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