Paddy Power Launches Ryder Cup Sky Tweets
Online bookmaker Paddy Power took to the clouds above the Medinah Country Club this weekend to deliver the world’s first ‘sky tweet’ campaign in support of Team Europe at the Ryder Cup tournament.
After American Captain Davis Love III called on U.S. fans to deliver the loudest frenzy ever seen at the tournament, Paddy Power responded with a plan to redress the balance for Team Europe, involving creating giant tweets in the sky, visible from over 20 miles, designed to rival any ground-level heckling.
The campaign certainly did no harm, with Team Europe producing a record-breaking final-day comeback to win the Ryder Cup 14.5-13.5, securing 8.5 points from a possible 12.
Paddy Power explains the process behind the initiative at Sport Industry TV.
Paddy Power’s twitter feed – @paddypower – called on European supporters to submit messages with the hashtag ‘#goeurope’, a selection of which were’sky-written’ by stunt pilots flying at 10,000ft in what the bookie claims is the world’s first Twitter campaign of its kind.
The company used new technology to ‘post’ 60 tweets across the Illinois skies throughout the weekend’s golfing action. Each individual character stands at 200ft taller than the newly installed Shard skyscraper in London.
The aerial team craft the messages directly over the course but above restricted airspace to ensure the display is entirely inaudible to players yet highly visible to the 40,000 fans attending the tournament, plus the millions of TV viewers watching from across the globe.
Commenting on the campaign, Paddy Power said: ‘In previous years we have seen shocking scenes of American crowds heckling and barracking the European players. Rather than take a leaf out of the book of our noisy rivals on the course, we’ve elevated support for Team Europe to the heavens! Our ‘sky tweets’ have given European fans the chance to have their messages seen on a massive scale, hopefully giving Olazabal and the guys a boost from home.’
The computer-controlled messages are delivered by five stunt planes flying in formation wing to wing and spelling out each character of the message with a vapour trail that is turned on and off as letters are built. Computerised output controls the messages in the same way an ink jet printer forms its letters. Each message took around 90 seconds to form and spanned over 5 miles wide.
Paddy Power is expecting to secure a double entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for the ‘World’s Biggest Tweet’ and for smashing previously held records in the ‘Biggest Skywriting ‘category. The activity is part of Paddy Power’s ‘We Hear You’ campaign.
