April 2023: Arsenal sit 8 points clear at the top of the Premier League. The title is theirs to lose. Only their North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, perennial bottlers, would be capable of throwing away the league from such a position.
Not to be outdone by anyone let alone Spurs, Arsenal relinquished 2-0 leads against both Liverpool and West Ham, and then scraped a 3-3 draw with bottom club Southampton. Their advantage over title rivals Man City came down to one game... away against Man City.
Arsenal lost the game 4-1 and the capitulation was complete, much to the misery of Arsenal fans, and the giddy schadenfreude of everyone else. It was too good an opportunity for Paddy Power to miss.
We responded the very next morning by parking an 18-foot champagne bottle outside Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, and partnering with BrewDog to launch a limited edition IPA: Misfiring Gunners.
The stunts sent social into overdrive, garnering 1.7 million impressions for the brand across the platforms, becoming Paddy Power's 4th most engaged activation ever, and was picked up by media including Benchwarmers, Talksport and MailOnline.
To add fuel to the fire, the tweet announcing the beer was picked up organically by none other than Apprentice host and Spurs fan, Lord Alan Sugar. We quickly shipped him a few bottles which he then used to poke frenemy Piers Morgan. A Twitter spat with a combined following of 13.6 million? Not bad.
The stunt was supported by odds offered by Paddy Power on Arsenal finishing 2nd (a dead cert at 1/7) and amplified across paid digital media spots on sports news sites and even in Paddy Power shops.
I was particularly proud of this one, as I identified the potential opportunity 2 weeks out, pitched the idea and then oversaw it through sourcing and pricing the inflatables (thanks John in Megaflatables), working with Paddy Power PR manager Rachael Kane and activations agency Ready10 on the logistics of getting it to London on time, along with providing creative direction on everything from the bottle, to beer labels, to banner ads.
