{"id":53086,"date":"2017-06-25T14:00:15","date_gmt":"2017-06-25T21:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=53086"},"modified":"2017-06-26T13:38:54","modified_gmt":"2017-06-26T20:38:54","slug":"paddy-power-genius-head-of-mischief-ken-robertson-calls-it-a-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/paddy-power-genius-head-of-mischief-ken-robertson-calls-it-a-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Paddy Power Genius ‘Head of Mischief,’ Ken Robertson Calls It a Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ken Robertson, Paddy Power\u2019s maverick advertising chief, or \u201cHead of Mischief,\u201d to give him his official title, is moving on.<\/p>\n

\"Ken
Money back if he walks: Paddy Powers Ken Robertson will soon pull his last outrageous stunt as he leaves behind the brand he helped to define. (Image: Paddy Power)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During a 19-year stint at the company, he dreamed some of the most controversial and memorable campaigns in advertising history.<\/p>\n

Always topical, irreverent, thoroughly un-PC, and quite often summarily banned by advertising watchdogs, Robertson\u2019s ideas have ranged from surreal TV spots to pure guerrilla marketing. But they always struck a nerve, or a funny bone, depending on your sensibilities and tolerance for provocation.<\/p>\n

Moreover, they defined the Paddy Power brand: derisive and iconoclastic; the kid at the back of the class, launching paper planes while steadfastly refusing to take anything<\/i> seriously.<\/p>\n

Two-fingered Salute<\/b><\/h2>\n

Earlier this week, a cardboard statue of beleaguered British Prime Minster Theresa May, wearing a Union Jack ballgown and \u201cwith fingernails five-foot long,\u201d appeared on the White Cliffs of Dover, the famous chalk cliffs that tower over the English Channel at the closest point between England and continental Europe.<\/p>\n

The statue was flicking a two-fingered salute towards France; a reversed \u201cvictory sign,\u201d which in British culture is akin to a gestured middle-finger.<\/p>\n

This was Paddy Power celebrating the opening of the Brexit negotiations between the UK<\/a> and Europe, while announcing to the world it was running a book on the proceedings. It was a typical Paddy Power marketing move: pull a stunt that\u2019s arresting, silly and vaguely offensive and let the media do the rest.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really proud of this statue,\u201d explained the ever-helpful \u201cPaddy Power spokesman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe tried to make the installation look as lifelike as possible to Theresa May, which is why it\u2019s two-dimensional and largely wooden.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Pistorius Controversy<\/b><\/h2>\n

This is unlikely to be Robertson\u2019s parting shot, though; he\u2019s due remain in the job for another six months, before he leaves to form his own creative agency, and so we can expect a few more stunts before he finally departs .\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKen is a unique person and filling the void that he leaves will take a special talent, so I\u2019m delighted that he will be around for quite some time to come,\u201d Paddy Power Betfair staff were told via an email this week. \u201cHe will be sorely missed and closer to the time, we will take the opportunity to celebrate a quite brilliant career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robertson\u2019s own personal favorite Paddy Power ad is also, tellingly, the most complained-about advertisement in British history.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The bookmaker\u2019s offer of \u201cmoney back if he walks\u201d on the Oscar Pistorius trial resulted in a record 5,525 complaints being received by the UK\u2019s advertising watchdog.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Career Highs<\/b><\/h2>\n

Other career highlights include a blind soccer player kicking a cat up a tree (the most complained-about TV spot of 2010); a spot that featured Jesus trying to clean up Italy\u2019s scandal hit football industry (quickly banned in Italy); and the overnight appearance of a jockey riding the 3,000-year-old Uffington White Horse hill carving in Oxfordshire.<\/p>\n

Then there was the time the company was sanctioned by the London Olympics committee during the London Games for claiming to be the \u201cofficial sponsor of the biggest athletics event in London this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paddy Power<\/a> had, in fact, sponsored an athletics event in the small agricultural village of London, France.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The bookmaker also sent a Mexican Marriachi band to welcome Donald Trump on his most recent visit to Scotland, and advertised its odds on the US election by asking \u201cis orange the new black?\u201d<\/p>\n

Robertson\u2019s risky wit will be sorely missed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ken Robertson, Paddy Power\u2019s maverick advertising chief, or \u201cHead of Mischief,\u201d to give him his official title, is moving on. During a 19-year stint at the company, he dreamed some of the most controversial and memorable campaigns in advertising history. Always topical, irreverent, thoroughly un-PC, and quite often summarily banned by advertising watchdogs, Robertson\u2019s ideas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":53087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,19],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPaddy Power Genius \u201cHead of Mischief,\u201d Ken Robertson Calls It a Day<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ken Robertson, outrageous Paddy Power ad guru, is to leave the company later this year.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/paddy-power-genius-head-of-mischief-ken-robertson-calls-it-a-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Paddy Power Genius \u201cHead of Mischief,\u201d Ken Robertson Calls It a Day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ken Robertson, outrageous Paddy Power ad guru, is to leave the company later this year.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/paddy-power-genius-head-of-mischief-ken-robertson-calls-it-a-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-25T21:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-26T20:38:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/exam130114KenRobertsonPaddyPower_large.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"325\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/paddy-power-genius-head-of-mischief-ken-robertson-calls-it-a-day\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/paddy-power-genius-head-of-mischief-ken-robertson-calls-it-a-day\/\",\"name\":\"Paddy Power Genius \u201cHead of Mischief,\u201d Ken Robertson Calls It a Day\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/paddy-power-genius-head-of-mischief-ken-robertson-calls-it-a-day\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/paddy-power-genius-head-of-mischief-ken-robertson-calls-it-a-day\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/exam130114KenRobertsonPaddyPower_large.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-25T21:00:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-26T20:38:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Ken Robertson, outrageous Paddy Power ad guru, is to leave the company later this year.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/paddy-power-genius-head-of-mischief-ken-robertson-calls-it-a-day\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/paddy-power-genius-head-of-mischief-ken-robertson-calls-it-a-day\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/paddy-power-genius-head-of-mischief-ken-robertson-calls-it-a-day\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/exam130114KenRobertsonPaddyPower_large.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/exam130114KenRobertsonPaddyPower_large.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":325,\"caption\":\"Money back if he walks: Paddy Powers Ken Robertson will soon pull his last outrageous stunt as he leaves behind the brand he helped to define. 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