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YouTube, NFL and DraftKings Get Ready for Some Football
Madcap moves from humorous playbooks
Ready or not, football season is here. Let’s look at a trio of high-profile campaigns designed to pump up fans for games and brands.
Everyone can agree that Sundays come to a halt for NFL action … especially the mascots! And for the most part, they all get along. Well, maybe not the falcon and cardinal. YouTube TV created “The Magic of Sunday” in-house, with sweet visual effects provided by The Mill.
The work promotes NFL Sunday Ticket, where fans can watch their fave teams on a single platform. In that spirit, the spot gets the mascots together, under one roof, to peep some games.
We get a ram, lion, bear, falcon, jaguar, cardinal, giant, cowboy, buccaneer and Viking. (Wouldn’t wanna clean up the room after that.)
Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., the ad is set to the soft sound of Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning.” It’s Muse’s Ad of the Week!
Meanwhile, the NFL itself and 72AndSunny launched “Football Country,” full of cameos from players and other celebs. There’s high school athletes, flag football star Makena Cook, YouTube content creator Deestroying—and Haley Van Voorhis, the first woman to play a position other than kicker in an NCAA gridiron game. Stefon Diggs, Myles Garrett, DeMarcus Lawrence, plus Jason and Kylie Kelce rep the league.
Finally, If you’re a betting person, DraftKings’ NFL ad has Kevin Hart and LeBron James. Hart roasts James’ age when he believes James wants to suit up for the NFL. “They want someone that can run a 40, not someone that IS 40.” “How are you gonna celebrate a win? You gonna give everyone butterscotch candy?” LeBron laughed, and we did, too.
