The Clio Awards - Creative Summit

Las Vegas Raiders Star Has a Ball in Underwear Ads

SAXX unsheathes the wordplay

We’d like to report that SAXX underwear created advertising free of groin-focused, groan-inducing innuendo and silly references to “sacks.”

But today is not that day.

Indeed, SAXX aims below the belt as usual, casting Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby and his copious tattoos in a new commercial.

Note the double Xs in both the brand and endorser names, and consider that Maxx sacks opposing players for a living. That’s the creative strategy—in a nutshell.

“Maxx was very comfortable posting in his underwear in front of a camera. More so than most of the athletes we’ve worked with in the past,” says Christian Blatner, an account supervisor at Zeno Group, which developed the campaign.

The deal stretches, like a comfy waistband, beyond silly wordplay.

Each time he sacks a quarterback this year, the brand will donate $1,000 to Crosby’s charitable foundation. He’ll also help SAXX scout up-and-coming talent for NIL contracts.

So what we’ve got here is … the complete package.

Work breaks this week, mainly across social.

The Clio Awards - Creative Summit