Mankini

Background

On 11th October 2008, England played Kazakhstan in a world cup qualifying match at Wembley.

The Sun newspaper saw an opportunity not just to demonstrate its passion for football but also its commitment to community causes, in this instance awareness of testicular cancer and the need for men to check themselves regularly.

Idea

Kazakhstan had been made famous by “Borat – The Movie” starring Sacha Baron Cohen.

Before the match, The Sun sent Borat-style mankinis to celebrities and football pundits, and invited them to wear the costumes in support of the male cancer charity, Orchid. This created buzz and an impression that The Sun was planning a ‘surprise’.

On the day twenty Borat look-a-likes were at Wembley, dressed in mankinis emblazoned with the cross of St. George, interacting with the fans and handing out information leaflets about Orchid and testicular cancer.

Results

With just 20 packs mailed out the message reached an audience of tens of thousands through the talk-shows and blogs of the recipients.

The story was one of the most-read articles on thesun.co.uk, with over 11,000 hits while visits to Orchid’s website more than doubled.

Our Thoughts

England v Kazakhstan was made for a Borat joke. I believe it was a junior creative team who came up with the idea of getting The Sun to do something but, as always, it took a client with, dare I say it, …balls…to see value in supporting the brand in this non-traditional way. And make no mistake, that’s what it is, pureplay brand communication even if it did start out as a piece of direct mail.