Apple TV show Ted Lasso has been a gift to sports advertising. First, it provided a creative assist for EA Sports’ Cannes Grand Prix score, and now it’s helping macho brand Johnnie Walker to find a way into the Women’s World Cup.
The brand has signed Ted Lasso’s female star Hannah Waddingham, who plays the owner of AFC Richmond, to share a series of “Match Day Memos” designed to boost viewer numbers for women’s sport.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc9eoXzpCoc&t=16s
For every sign up to Waddingham’s video bulletins, Johnnie Walker will donate $10 to the Women’s Sports Foundation (with a $100,000 ceiling). The memos are made in partnership with Reese Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine.
This is the latest in the “First strides” campaign (part of “Keep Walking”), which was set up to support the under-represented. At the Oscars the brand hosted a separate red carpet to celebrate the female film makers who were snubbed at the awards.
Waddingham comes across like a grown-up Barbie and, like her character in Ted Lasso, someone who expects to be listened to. A pretty good combination for a brand spokesperson.
MAA creative scale: 7
