The script for the high-profile ad has been signed and stars have been hired, with the creative team at Irish sportsbook Paddy Power confident they have a winner ahead of the big sporting summer.
Even with his back turned, and even before the big reveal, the man wearing No. 10 in the England football shirt was instantly recognizable by his build and his thick head of light hair: Boris Johnson.
“I told you I was going to bring us back to Europe,” the script calls for Johnson to utter this glib but untrue quip from a man who helped lead the Brexit campaign that led to Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.
But the ad will never air.
Dublin-based Paddy Power was forced to cancel the planned video, which had been the cornerstone of its busy summer advertising campaign, which includes the European football championships and the Paris Olympics, after facing backlash from UK staff.
Two people familiar with the event and its conclusion confirmed the decision. They said the ad script had been provided to Mr Johnson. A spokesman for Johnson did not respond to a request for comment.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the company’s internal decisions and because of the sensitivities surrounding the company’s alliance with Mr Johnson, whose Conservative Party secured a majority in the 2019 national election but whose tenure has been marred by a series of problems. Finish.
According to these people, Paddy Power’s staff in the UK said they were uncomfortable with promoting a divisive figure like Johnson, especially using language that mocked Brexit, an issue that has polarized the UK , and damaged relations with countries across the European continent.
“We have been discussing a number of opportunities with Boris Johnson’s team, one of which is the idea of a cameo role in a TV advert,” Paddy Power’s parent company Flutter Entertainment said in a statement to The New York Times .
The company confirmed Johnson’s role in the Euro 2024 campaign had been dropped but did not say why.
“We still hope to be able to collaborate in the near future,” it added.
British tabloid The Sun broke the news on Sunday that Johnson was set to star in Paddy Power’s Euro 2024 campaign earlier this month.
As a bookmaker known for its publicity stunts, Paddy Power has never been afraid to push the boundaries of its advertising, which often attracts a lot of attention, although not all of it is positive. In 2010, an event featuring a blind football player kicking a cat received hundreds of complaints. (Paddy Power said the ad “showed an action that was unlikely, even ridiculous” and that the cat was not harmed.)
Two years later, the company paid a fine of about $100,000 to European football’s governing body UEFA after a Danish footballer promoted the brand on underwear after scoring a goal at the 2012 European Championship. The promotion violates rules prohibiting players from displaying advertising on apparel other than their football uniforms.
In 2020, the company apologized for using “derogatory and offensive” language after sharing a social media video in which a football fan made homophobic comments.
For some staff in Paddy Power’s London office, including Johnson was clearly a step too far.
The former Tory leader’s partnership with Paddy Power contrasts with some of the views on gambling espoused by his government. During his time as prime minister, the government called on the English Football Association to cancel a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with a prominent bookmaker.
