There was one sure-fire way to see that the Showmax TV stunt, involving former Manchester United football star Eric Cantona, was a total surprise to his fellow presenters. 

And that was the look on the faces of hosts Julia Stuart and fellow Manu U star Owen Hargreaves, as Cantona supposedly stormed off the set of Matchday Live, the show about the English Premier League, the most popular league in the world.

Neither of the presenters was prepared for the scene – their almost gobsmacked demeanour was proof of that – but neither was ready to challenge the mercurial Frenchman either.

After all, back in 1995, Cantona achieved lasting football notoriety by “drop-kicking” an obnoxious fan on the touchline in a match against Crystal Palace.

This time, Cantona’s carefully arranged “tantrum” was even kept a secret from the small production team in the studios in London.

A successful marketing stunt

His outburst began when presenter Stuart referred to “television”, prompting him to pull off his microphone, dump his jacket and tie and rave on about liberating the beautiful game to allow it “to fly”.

The only way to do that is by showing it on mobile devices – which is exactly what Showmax is selling with a special subscription offer aimed at customers across Africa.

But what really elevated the stunt was that so many were taken in by it at first – Cantona is Mr Unpredictable, after all – and then social media lit up as it went viral.

Showmax’s chief marketing officer, Yatish Narsi, said: “The stunt drove a 72% increase in PR coverage week on week, drove more than R35m in PR value and was mentioned more than 27,000 times on social media. The stunt has been covered on major football sites across the world including SPORTbible, Daily Mail, and more.”

Fans love Showmax's Premier League launch marketing stunt with Eric Cantona

21 Aug 2024

Whatever it costs to get Cantona, those numbers show an amazing return on investment.

But Cantona was really good value to watch, too, because he lived the part and one could feel his passion for the game erupting. 

Not many sports stars are that good in front of the camera. Then again, maybe he was just being himself.

It’s a really great piece of marketing.

Orchids to all involved: Showmax, Multichoice, T+W, Retroviral, grid, 22Ours, Encircle.

And last but not least, to you, Eric. You drop-kicked this one out of the park, monsieur.

Melon Mobile and Lift miss the mark

A colleague sent me a social media post from the show Expresso where they were punting a gushing interview (this is, after all, a show which is wholly advertorial in nature) about Melon Mobile and its supposedly “cheeky” takeover of billboards used by Lift airline.

The problem is: What is the actual point you are making?

Did Melon link up to offer Lift flyers a free trial – or does this apply to any Tom, Dick and Harry?

I don’t know and, from the information on the billboard, no one does. 

Lift users might get irritated if they discover that everybody is eligible, while non-Lift users could get annoyed when they discover they are excluded.

Confusing advertising – or advertising which has to be explained, post facto – doesn’t work.

So, Onions to both Melon Mobile and Lift.