Jose Mourinho Becomes Paddy Power Games Division Ambassador
Former Manchester United and Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is the new face of the Irish bookmaker’s Daily Jackpot promotion
Smarkets Posts Losses of £8.9m. Pixabay.
Self-titled, “Special One” Jose Mourinho is the star of a new advertisement campaign from Irish bookmaker Paddy Power. The Former Manchester United and Chelsea manager heads up the advert in which he pokes fun of himself.
At an unusually long 1 minute 25 seconds, the amusing online and TV commercial concentrates on the divisive nature of Mourinho. Jose plays up to his public persona, being boastful, boarding on arrogance.
The commercial begins with Jose saying “it’s not easy being special” and lists his championship wins in Milan and Madrid but declares “not all great achievements win trophies” as the camera pans a newspaper headline stating “United clinch second”, a tongue-in-cheek assessment of his time as Manchester United manager. Joining the club with much fanfare in May 2016, Mourinho was supposed to have United challenging for the league title, something they hadn’t done since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. Despite a promising start and a Europa League triumph, Mourinho’s defensive football was unpopular with fans, a weak league position and a 3-1 defeat in December 2018 by bitter rivals Liverpool was enough to seal his fate, and Mourinho was sacked.
Mourinho’s time at Chelsea is also parodied in the advert; the 56-year-old is seen in the luxurious grounds of a mansion, performing topiary on a hedge. “Be humble!” says Mourino, “special never brag”, as the camera zooms out the hedge is shaped into a giant hand displaying three fingers, referencing the three Premier League titles he won with the London club.
Paddy Power state that the insight behind the commercial is that with the Daily Jackpot being claimed each day, and the average prize awarded is £40,000, here are more winners than ever before on Paddy Power Games – meaning you don’t have to be special to win. Which is where José comes in. Michelle Spillane, marketing director for Paddy Power said Jose was the perfect match for the commercial, saying;
Jose Mourinho knows a thing or two about being special, so who better to front our Daily Jackpot campaign? – Michelle Spillane, Paddy Power marketing director.
Spillane said that Mourinho’s status as a household name and his record of being one of the most successful managers in football enabled them to produce a “stand-out” campaign and described the opportunity as “glorious”.
These sentiments were echoed by the creative agency VCCP who aided the campaign. Mark Orbine, Executive Creative Director at VCCP Blue described how the campaign intended to bring the world of Paddy Power Games to the football betting sites audience. As the advert is called “don’t think you’re special”, Orbine said Jose Mourinho was the only option, he joked “After all, who knows what it is to be special better than the man himself?”.
