For generations, the mutterings of followers who witnessed unbelievable on-field moments fueled the parable that Nationwide Soccer League Video games had been scripted. When former NFL participant Arian Foster claimed earlier this yr that he was handed such a script, that fantasy metastasized into memes.
Inside about an hour of Foster’s assertion, 72andSunny company founder Glenn Cole and govt artistic director Zach Hilder thought of turning these memes right into a sports activities advertising marketing campaign.
“He and I had a chat about it, like, ‘That will be a tremendous mythology—constructing on the conspiracy principle could be actually incredible,’” Cole mentioned. “However we didn’t know what our temporary would or must be, so we simply put it apart.”
By midsummer, nonetheless, 72andSunny started speaking with their longtime companions on the NFL about framing the NFL not merely as a sports activities choice for followers, however as an leisure choice for households. For informal followers much less invested within the performs and gamers and diehards who knew the league inside and outside, labeling far-fetched performs or feats “scripted” was a little bit of enjoyable, memeworthy frequent floor. If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell may joke about it within the offseason, there was no motive for 72andSunny to not pitch it to league entrepreneurs.
“If I’m being completely candid, it wasn’t precisely on temporary,” mentioned NFL CMO Tim Ellis. “After we noticed it, my rapid suggestions was like, ‘Alright, guys, we’re not on temporary, however I frickin’ love this marketing campaign, so we’re gonna do it anyway.’”
After being teased out on the NFL’s social media, the “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” marketing campaign launched on Amazon Prime Video throughout a Thursday Evening Soccer recreation.
That includes actor and comic Keegan-Michael Key at a desk learn of the 2023 NFL season script—together with NFL gamers Travis and Jason Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey and Dexter Lawrence—the marketing campaign will characteristic 16 completely different spots all through the season.
