Natwest looks to hijack Rugby World Cup advertising with extreme sports stunt
Natwest has released a new ad campaign as it looks to 'iritate' the official sponsor brands of The Rugby World Cup.
The film sees Welsh rugby player Shane Williams throwing a rugby ball out of a microlight plane before extreme Sports enthusiast Gary Connery completes the first legal jump from a microlight in a wing suit to catch the ball in free fall.
The advert, created by M&C Saatchi, aims to hang on the coattails of rugby's current popularity and entice more people into the sport.
Natwest has partnered with the Extreme International who acted as production partner.
Sam Ball, creative director at M&C Saatchi, said: “It doesn’t look like advertising, it doesn’t feel like advertising, and for that reason people are more likely to take notice. Often you look at an idea and think: ‘I wish we made that’ – well with this one we did.”
M&C Saatchi is also creating another Extreme Sports rugby film, featuring Lewis Moody called ‘The Fastest Interception’, due to come out just before the final of the Rugby World Cup on 31 October.
Overall there will be a total of six executions, which includes two main films, two teasers and two making of films. The films will run across social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.