Paddy Power unveil WE ARE Pi as its new 'brand mischief' agency with Cecil the lion spoof
Paddy Power has appointed WE ARE Pi as its new “brand mischief” agency in a partnership that will see the betting giant continue its controversial advertising approach with a Cecil the lion Rugby World Cup ad.
Amsterdam-based WE ARE Pi were appointed to the position following a competitive pitch handled by the AAR. The agency will push forth Paddy Power’s marketing strategy with its first ad campaign titled “Big Game Hunter”. Playing on the Cecil the lion killing, the ad features a psychotic American dentist with a high powered rifle hunting national team’s icon and predicting the outcome of games based on whether he takes them down.
Paddy Power’s chief marketing officer, Gav Thompson, said it was “very excited” and described WE ARE Pi as “our kind of agency; creative, restless and non-conformists”. According to Thompson Paddy power was looking for “a partner in mischief and they were the stand-out choice. Their ideas were clever and naughty in equal measure”.
WE ARE Pi partner, Paddy Garvey, said working with Paddy Power would ensure the agency’s creativity did not run dry by “falling into a repeating pattern”. He added that the partnership gave it the opportunity to “let off some steam and cause some trouble. In this case we are targeting the bad guys, and hope to spark change by making noise.”
The ad can be viewed in full above.