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Experiential Marketing Advertising Paddy Power

13 of Paddy Power's most outrageous marketing stunts

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By John McCarthy | Opinion Editor

February 15, 2019 | 7 min read

Never one to shy away from controversy, Paddy Power over the years has delivered some of the most memorable PR stunts and ad campaigns in the business.

Paddy Power Balloon

Paddy Power Balloon

The bookmaker brand has a history of inflammatory work although it is looking to lean into good causes like LGBT rights - especially during the World Cup in Russia.

1) Loyalty's Dead

Ryan Giggs' brother Rhodri was unveiled as the face of Paddy Power's latest loyalty campaign, poking fun at the pair's infamous fall-out. Peter Cattaneo of The Full Monty fame created a ruthlessly comedic spot.

2) Dear England

Ahead of Ireland’s Six Nations rugby clash with England in 2019, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power littered Dublin with taunting billboards looking to ignite Brexit craic between fans. Adding to the mayhem, the controversial bookmaker also installed a pop-up passport office, making light of the surge of UK citizens applying for its EU-accessible document.

Paddy Power

3: Saint to Sinner

With Pope Francis touching down on Irish soil in 2018, Paddy Power created a pop-up in the capital that it claims will help punters "clear their conscience on the go". The confessional booth was situated just outside Dublin's Phoenix Park.

4) Costa: We Won't Shit in your Coffee

In 2017, Paddy Power took a swing at a slew of coffee chains that recently scored less than admirably in recent health inspections. Reacting to a BBC investigation that found "off the scale” traces of faecal bacteria in iced drinks at Starbucks, Costa and Café Nero, it used the news event to debase a Costa store unfortunate enough to be a neighbour with a cheeky bit of in-store advertising.

Paddy Power

4) Roy the Redeemer

Ahead of Euro 2012, Paddy Power unveiled a 108ft statue of former England manager Roy Hodgson. The structure, installed on the White Cliffs of Dover was intended to provide 'divine intervention' for the England squad.

Roy the Redeemer

5) Cheltenham Pants

During the 2013 Cheltenham Festival, Paddy Power offered race-goers the 'best seat in the house'... in a 63ft pair of y-fronts.

Paddy Power Balloon

6) Royal Babies

In anticipation of the birth of royal baby Prince George, Paddy Power sent three giant babies in green onesies to St.Mary's Hospital, with odds on the prince's name.

Paddy Power Royal Babies

7) Emergency Alex Ferguson

After Manchester United suffered a string of losses under former manager David Moyes, Paddy Power placed a wax statue of his predecessor Sir Alex Ferguson outside Old Trafford. Contained in a glass box, the model was covered by a sign reading: 'In case of Emergency at Old Trafford, Break Glass.'

Paddy Power Sir Alex Ferguson

8) Traitor Tony

During the 2014 World Cup, a punter named Tony who bet against England in their first loss to Italy, was swiftly punished for his Twitter bragging. Paddy Power hung Tony in a giblet alongside a billboard to serve as a warning other potential 'traitors'.

Paddy Power traitor Tony

9) MPs getting sacked

During the 2015 general election, Paddy Power delivered a cheeky message on a truck parked outside Westminster Parliament. Claiming that 75 per cent of MPs would be unseated, Paddy Power covered the truck with a decal reading: 'You're getting sacked in the morning'.

Paddy Power Truck

10) Juan Direction

During Donald Trump's visit to Scotland, Paddy Power sent a Mexican Mariachi band to welcome him as soon as he landed following a string of high-profile comments the Republican candidate made about "building a wall" between Mexico and the US.

Paddy Power Mexican Mariachi

11) Putin your Medals

In the run-up to the 2016 Olympics, Russian athletes found themselves caught up in a state-sponsored doping scandal. In response, Paddy Power placed a medal amnesty box outside the Russian embassy, urging them to hand over their medals.

Paddy Power Russian medals

12) Brexit Bunker

Paddy Power enlists the aid of footballing legend Eric Cantona in this hilarious send up of Brexit and the clamor surrounding it. In the ad, Cantona offers up an old sea fort as a ‘Brexit Bunker’ for fatigued Brits to seek shelter from the political storm.

13) EU-Revision

The bookmakers are back at it again with their Brexit bashing, this time pulling in Irish talent show judge Louis Walsh for support. The ad sees Walsh "come out" in support of the UK in the Eurovision contest, and urges the other European nations to vote for the UK too. This will ensure that no matter the outcome of Brexit, next year the country will be forced to host the contest and the Uk will be inundated with Europeans again. Genius.

Take a look at some other stunts that Paddy Power has pulled over the years:

Experiential Marketing Advertising Paddy Power

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