“We own the two most complained about adverts ever.”
Paddy Power is celebrating its 30th birthday this year, and to celebrate, the iconic betting company has launched its Museum of Mischief opposite St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin for one week only.
The museum chronicles the company’s best known marketing stunts, such as the Paddy Power pants worn by the likes of Nicklas Bendtner and Floyd Mayweather, the controversial “shave the rainforest” campaign and the time that Paddy turned up in the Vatican City.
JOE spoke to the man himself, Paddy Power, and learned about the marketing campaigns that were too daring even for Paddy to run.
“We own the two most complained-about adverts ever, which is not something we ever went out to go after but one was the betting on the Oscar Pistorious trial and the other was… we had an ad with blind footballers kicking a ball around and they kicked a cat up a tree. We actually ran that ad twice and when you add the two iterations together it’s the second-most behind the Pistorious one,” Paddy told us.
But some ads never made it out of Paddy Power HQ. In one section of the Museum of Mischief, labelled the Complaints Department, is one banner that features Rolf Harris alongside the slogan ‘This is the only Aussie we don’t want to get out’, which was planned for The Ashes tournament.
Another, featuring a photoshop of DUP leader Arlene Foster about to snog British Prime Minister Theresa May, was turned down by every newspaper it was pitched to, which means it also got left on the shelf. But it, alongside, several other risky ideas, are on show in the Dublin exhibit right now.
Paddy also filled us in on the time that he met Floyd Mayweather ahead of his clash with Conor McGregor in 2017.
“Having him wear the pants… in many ways it’s just bananas how it happens. You think it’s impossible to get there, like getting Stephen Hawking to be our brand ambassador before the World Cup, like why? But at the same time it’s possible if you just go after it.
“Eventually, Mayweather saw us at like 2am in a stripclub, his stripclub, Girl Collection, very classy. There’s a coffee table with a stack of money, clearly a prop, probably about a hundred grand on the table…”
Paddy said he was almost in fear for his life while trying to convince Mayweather to wear a pair of Paddy Power pants and read the script that they’d prepared for him, but eventually the boxer settled into the role and has been in touch with the company since to help plan some stunts as he teases a possible jaunt in the UFC Octagon.
The Paddy Power Museum of Mischief is open to the public between 12pm-2pm all this week from Tuesday to Friday. All in all, the Museum of Mischief features:
- An Amazon-themed petting zoo, featuring animals rescued from the Amazon during the ‘shave the rainforest’ stunt around the 2014 World Cup, including a real crocodile.
- A ‘Ruby Rejuvenator’, revealing the secret to how Paddy Power have helped keep the record-breaking (and bone-breaking) jockey Ruby Walsh healthy, despite his many injuries over the years.
- A ‘Lucky Pants’ lab, marking the various versions of Paddy Power’s iconic underwear, from Nicklas Bendtner to Floyd Mayweather, via Daft Punk and Brighton Pride.
- A Polar (Bear) Bar serving tranquiliser dart shots, inspired by the bookie’s campaign around the Russia World Cup – as well as an area dedicated to their Rainbow Russians charity drive, where Russian footballers inadvertently raised £170,000 for LGBT+ causes every time they scored.
- And a ‘Department of Complaints’, housing the brand’s most complained about adverts and stunts of all time.
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