Paddy Power back in Advertising Form

With ‘Chief of Mischief’ Ken Robertson set to leave Paddy Power in the next couple of months it is no surprise that they have decided to use his penchant for controversial and eye-catching advertising and guerrilla marketing. They seem to have perfected the trick of producing relatively low-cost advertisements and then instead of trying to spread them by the traditional means (which are more expensive) they just make the ad cheeky and controversial and let the wave of newspapers and tweets get their brand name out there instead by talking about just how controversial it all is. In fact it’s working wonders right now since I am constantly mentioning Paddy Power in this article and they don’t have to pay me anything.

The whole system works very well and they will no doubt continue it under their next ‘Head of Mischief’ whomever that may be. Just this week Paddy Power have been able to create headlines with a flick of their magic marketing wands. Here’s exactly what’s been turning heads and generating buzz these past few days and the reasons behind them.

Kissed and May-'dup

Naughtier than a jog through a wheat field this banner ad took a satirical swipe at the recent deal between Theresa May’s Conservative Party and Arlene Foster of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland by showing a photoshopped image of the two female leaders of the parties interlocking lips and sharing a passionate kiss.

The ad was supposed to advertise the 3/1 odds that Paddy Power have on this ‘Confidence and Supply’ arrangement and the whole government of the UK lasting throughout 2017. Paddy Power clearly share the disdain for this agreement that the rest of the public do as they have only given the government a 25% chance of survival past the December.

The ad would likely anger many of the DUP and a significant part of their voter base who have gone on record as being vehemently anti-LGBT in the past. The ad also drummed up a large response from the British Press who scrambled to cover the story which was so blatant in its swiping.

A statement form Paddy Power had this to say on the ad: “This week we attempted to run an advert offer on the Conservative-DUP alliance to not survive 2017. And sadly it went almost as bad as Theresa May’s election campaign, after getting the heave-ho by not one, not two, but all of the British newspapers.”

It makes one wonder if they have these statements ready to go before they even release the ad.

A cup of the brown stuff

As if their jabs couldn’t get any more topical Paddy Power have also made a swipe at the recent discovery made by a BBC investigative report that found traces of faeces in the iced drinks in Starbucks, Café Nero and Costa!

The ads have gone up in the windows of any of their London based shops that are beside one of the implicated coffee chains. The cheeky posters contain a cup of coffee with a cartoon poop above it and have the caption “Don’t Gamble Next Door, We Won’t Sh*t In Your Coffee”, subtle right?

As an extension to this Paddy Power are now offering free coffee to all customers in store so that they don’t have to go next door and buy from the guilty firms.
In a press release, a Paddy Power spokesman said: “It was obviously pretty sh*tty news to wake up to, but fortunately our marketing team were full of (coffee) beans this morning and decided to promote our free coffee in the shop.”