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Paddy Power

How Paddy Power's 'head of mischief' learned the c-word in 40 languages

Féilim MacAnIomaire famously got a job at the bookies by taking out a billboard ad.

PADDY POWER’S PR guru is often asked if there’s a line the controversial bookmaker won’t cross with its cheeky marketing campaigns.

“There absolutely is,” says self-described ‘mischief maker’ Féilim MacAnIomaire. “But we want to be very, very close to it.”

Connemara native MacAnIomaire was speaking recently at the Public Relations Institute of Ireland’s annual conference, which centred on the theme of ‘crisis communications’.

He told the assembled spin doctors that mischief “has been ingrained in the brand from the beginning” and that Paddy Power has often actively looked to spark so-called PR crises to drum up media attention.

“The objective of all our advertising is to entertain rather than offend,” he said. “But as with all edgy campaigns, they’re not going to be everyone’s taste and we absolutely, fully accept that.”

Speaking about the inner workings of Paddy Power’s PR machine, MacAnIomaire said when a colleagues pitches an idea for a stunt “the first thing I want to do when I hear it is laugh”.

“The second thing I want to do is crap my pants,” he said. “If we’re comfortable and totally OK with (a marketing idea), it’s probably wrong for us.”

90407152_90407152 Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

Hot water

Paddy Power’s PR stunts have often landed the outfit in hot water.

Earlier this year, the bookmaker courted controversy when it projected a 70-foot image of the Virgin Mary holding the Sam Maguire cup in the pilgrimage site of Knock, County Mayo. The stunt sparked an investigation by Ireland’s advertising watchdog.

MacAnIomaire also recalled a famous 2012 incident when Denmark footballer Nicklas Bendtner was fined €100,000 for revealing a pair of green underpants emblazoned with the Paddy Power logo during a Euro championship match.

Bendtner was fined €100,000 – which the company paid – and was banned for one match over the incident.

MacAnIomaire showed the PR bigwigs a video presentation about another famous stunt during the 2014 World Cup in which the bookie faked an image that appeared to show a section of the Amazon rainforest cut down to reveal the message, “C’mon England.”

paddy power forest Imgur Imgur

The bookie received a torrent of abuse over the image and claimed it was done to “raise awareness of deforestation”.

“It actually proved educational,” MacAnIomaire said. ”We ended up learning the c-word in about 40 different languages.”

Unconventional

MacAnIomaire said Paddy Power’s taste for controversy was largely championed by one of its founders, Stewart Kenny, who he described as “the best marketing mind this country has every produced”.

He said Kenny promoted a hiring practice where the bookie would seek out people who embodied the company’s ‘personality’.

For that reason, it has a history of recruiting people who use unconventional methods to get attention.

When MacAnIomaire was unemployed in 2011, he famously took out a billboard ad on Dublin’s Merrion Road for €2,000.

“Save me from emigration,” the billboard read, with MacAnIomaire’s email address at the bottom.

“It can help to stand out if you go against the grain,” he said. “Just ask Donald Trump’s hair.”

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Written by Conor McMahon and posted on Fora.ie

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    Mute Bobby
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    Jun 6th 2014, 5:31 PM

    Id say those under 60 are not much better.

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    Mute richardmccarthy
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    Jun 6th 2014, 4:47 PM

    I must be one of the 18%,ever since i stopped smoking 7 years ago i took to cycling excersize with a vengence, clocking up anything from 150/200 km per week on mostly coastal trips,as a form of excersize to help keep the body in shape it is very hard to beat, and would have no hesitation whatever in recommending it,just remember to wear proper hi vis clothing with helmet and a good pair of extra strong sole shoes used just for cycling shoes,and of course a good hibrid bike with strong tyres are a must.

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    Mute Emily Elephant
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    Jun 6th 2014, 5:41 PM

    You do 200k on a hybrid? Is your back made of titanium?

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    Mute richardmccarthy
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    Jun 6th 2014, 7:11 PM

    Well Emily i never had a problem with back strenght,and even hills are not a problem to me now,but as an ex marathon runner back in the eighties i know that regular exersize builds up mental as well as body strenght and things you once thought impossible you take them in your stride, cycling is easy compared to running marathons and of course the fact you enjoy it is a big plus.

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    Mute Emily Elephant
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    Jun 6th 2014, 7:52 PM

    Fair play to you. When my commute went to 11k my back said fook that, and it’s been a road bike ever since. Apparently someone did the Wicklow 200 on a DublinBike last year. Insane.

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    Mute Good News Caravan
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    Jun 6th 2014, 6:43 PM

    Old folk really are lazy. It takes an age to coax my grandma out the back garden for burpees and high intensity interval training.

    I take a carrot and stick approach whereby if she doesn’t go she gets her meals taken from her.

    Fair is fair after all

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    Mute Dee4
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    Jun 6th 2014, 5:16 PM

    no reason not to be physically healthy through to your 70′s, use it lose it.

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    Mute Angelic Lestat
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    Jun 6th 2014, 4:57 PM

    I think the next generation or two will be much more physically active as they age.

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    Mute Marjorie Magee
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    Jun 6th 2014, 10:55 PM

    Some will, but many will be too fat.

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    Mute Hallie Burton
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    Jun 6th 2014, 6:46 PM

    OK then.
    No smoking in the car.
    No giant sized drinks.
    Get yer cervix checked
    Embrace a Gay lifestyle
    Don’t drink the water from a private well
    Make eyer mind up, do you want a fry or a bale of briquettes
    Be careful flying with a certain American Airline
    I think that’s it ,now off for a walk and just hope the TV is not nicked while I’m out. :-)

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    Mute Sheik Yahbouti
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    Jun 6th 2014, 11:42 PM

    Spot on, Hallie, my man:-)

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    Mute Marjorie Magee
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    Jun 6th 2014, 10:54 PM

    Exercise is the key to a healthy old age. I am in my sixties and do a lot more than the recommended amount. I feel the same as I did 40 years ago and have no stiffness and soreness of joints. But you have to like doing it…..

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    Mute Sheik Yahbouti
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    Jun 6th 2014, 11:40 PM

    I’m puzzled. In thread after thread the over sixties are vilified, or at least criticised for consuming health care, for drawing pensions (which they have worked for) and for having paid off their mortgages. Why the sudden interest in extending our lives? I had thought it could only be a couple of years before we received a cyanide pill in the post from Ms Burton and her Department of social protection (try saying that name with a straight face).

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    Mute Catherine Mill
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    Jun 6th 2014, 6:22 PM

    Nanny state.

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    Mute Marc O'Donoghue
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    Jun 6th 2014, 10:54 PM

    Fewer than half, not less than half.

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