Channel 4 Promotes Scotland vs England with Biassed and Unfriendly International Friendly Ad

Stoke & celebrate historic rivalries in order to bring fans together*

*If only to watch their side win!

To promote Scotland vs England Channel 4 created the most biassed, one sided, and unfriendliest international friendly ads ever.

Channel 4’s TV and social promos see an England fan and Scotland fan go head to head, passionately displaying their admiration for their own team vs their disdain for the opponent. Channel 4 run through what makes England better and what makes Scotland better, using a mix of archive football match & fan footage, stock footage, black and white footage and animated sequences before landing on the modern day players showing their talent. The aggression rises throughout the promo as each fan gets more and more worked up, before we interject with the irreverent endline ‘it’s just a friendly, honest’.

In the national press, Channel 4 remains neutral by creating one sided ads… but for both teams, taking the iconic visual representation of fan made football flags with playful taunts sewn in.

The work introduces a new brand strapline ‘It’s just a friendly, honest’.

The promo makes the work particularly special.

It’s always a challenge to produce something that feels conceptual as a piece of creative but doesn’t come with a huge budget. 

There’s always a nervy wait when you think you’ve found the perfect clip to support the script from one of the stock libraries - will it be within budget or is the media owner going to quote something ludicrous for a clip that probably hasn’t been downloaded in years.

Channel 4 worked with Curious to craft the flags that’ll run across OOH and social. They’ve taken the initial designs and reworked them using a combination of photography to establish the texture and lighting and CGI for the lettering. 

So Channel 4 were able to adapt the OOH for social, and will be exporting the individual elements and type-setting them before applying the assets to a flag animation which is being worked on in tandem with the creation of the flags.

The spot will run on TV - trails and continuity; paid social and print ads (national + regional).

Who other than Channel 4 would do a football campaign championing support for both teams? As a broadcaster proud to serve the length and breadth of the UK, both English and Scottish fans are the audience - this campaign is a true celebration of, and play on, being altogether different.