Paddy Power is well known for its crazy marketing campaigns and we’ve covered our 5 favorites here. At times it seems their aim is to court controversy and gain complaints but for the most part, it’s usually in good humour (apart from “money back if he walks on the Oscar Pistorius murder trial – that one was a little too far!).
There are a few that haven’t made the top 5, like the bust of Gareth Bale, but here’s our top 5 in order.
Top 5 Paddy Power Adverts
We kick things off with the most recent campaign we’ve seen…
1 – #SaveOurShirt
Launched just before pre-season started for the 2018/2019 season Paddy Power sparked outrage among social media users with the launch of the new Huddersfield Town shirts sponsored by Paddy Power.
It has recently been announced that the FA are investigating the stunt for a breach of their rules, but I’m not sure Paddy Power will be bothered by that and will probably pay the fine for Huddersfield anyway. They’ve also signed up other teams to the #Saveourshirt campaign who will all play in sponsorless shirts.
Current teams –
- Huddersfield
- Newport County
- Southend United
- Macclesfield Town
- Motherwell
2 – Loyalty is Dead – Rhodri Giggs
In terms of creating a storm on social media, the loyalty is dead campaign was immense. They’ve spent years posting about Ryan Giggs having an affair with his brother’s wife, so why not use his brother for a marketing campaign. throughout the video (Shown below) there are loads of digs at brother Ryan and his questionable behavior.
Things to look for in the video
- The wandering cock pub
- Rhodri drinking out of an #MCFC mug
- “Do we need milk?”
- Mahiki bar – Giggs invested in this nightspot with Gary Neville, it closed down less than a year after opening
This is the ultimate shot at Giggs who Paddy Power has been mocking for years. Eventually, the advert got banned as it apparently glamorised gambling.
3 – Virgil Van Dyke Valuation
When it was widely reported that Liverpool was after VVD Paddy Power installed al live valuation tracker near Anfield. Every time Liverpool failed to keep a clean sheet the price went up, and up, and up.
We’re not sure what the price was on when the £75,000,000 was agreed but he looks great value at that price now. This is an excellent example of Paddy Power’s marketing where they don’t get fined or have their advert banned but it still is on the cheeky side to get a reaction.
4 – Amazon Rainforest
People lost their minds about this one!
Ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, it was reported that Paddy Power had bought a section of rainforest in Brazil that England would fly over. They had then copped some trees down to carve out “C’Mon England in the trees as shown below.
This caused a massive outrage – mainly because it’s Paddy Power and they give you regular moments where you think – “have they really done that”. On this case they hadn’t actually done it and were even prepared for the outcry with another cheeky response.
5 – Paddys Lucky Pants
Paddy Powers lucky pants have made a few appearances over the years, including as a hot air balloon over the Cheltenham Festival and a few other places. The most controversy was caused by then Arsenal sticker Nicklas Bendtner showing them after scoring for Denmark in Euro 2012. All none official UEFA advertising is banned at any international game and Bendtner picked up an £80,000 fine for this stunt (It is reported Paddy Power paid).
The story from Paddy at the time was that they had sent numerous European players lucky pants and had not instructed them (paid) to lift their shirts up to reveal them.
The most amazing thing about this one was that they actually expected Bendtner to score!
Neil Williams
November 28, 2023
Simon Taylor
November 11, 2022
Neil Williams
October 11, 2022
