Irish betting firm Paddy Power has entered the Christmas TV ad war as companies continue to release their festive videos.
The well-known bookie delivers its take on the true meaning of Christmas ahead of the World Cup kicking off in Qatar.
Celebrating the unprecedented advent of football and festive traditions colliding, the mischievous brand has sidled up to the usual crimbo cliches and promptly ripped them to shreds.
With the help of Shameless star David Threlfall’s unmistakable voice, Paddy Power delivers a festive delicacy, dropping scenes that pay homage to football’s most iconic moments all wrapped up in Christmassy paper and tied in a bow.
Flares clash with turkeys, lads get their knits out, we see what happens when a Christmas carol organist goes rogue, football-obsessed nans kneel before football managers, and former England great Peter Crouch collides with a bouncer in the betting firm’s reimagining of a tale as old as time itself as the striker struggles to find room at ‘The Inn’.
The “Where were you in 22?” campaign pushes the boundaries of bedlam, with everything on the table (including sprouts!). From kitsch crockery (illustrated by artist Vince Pastiche), a World Cup edition of Charades, Christmas jumpers and even a special build OOH festive light display of that famous Frenchman, who delivered an iconic World Cup memory that sticks in the head!
In a semi-ironic display of British patriotism, Paddy Power is offering a free Bet Builder on all England games, meaning the better England do, the more Paddy Power cough up.
A celebration of the unprecedented collision of the World Cup and Christmas festivities, “Where were you in 22?”, launches on Friday 11 November, and will run throughout the World Cup period.
Michelle Spillane, Marketing and Brand Director for Paddy Power UK & Ireland said: “ For the first time in our lives, football fans and brands are faced with the prospect of Christmas colliding with a Winter World Cup. It’s unchartered territory for all of us. To Paddy Power, it presented us with double the opportunity to surprise and delight football fans."
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