This past weekend, The Public House unveiled a 30-foot gold statue of Virgil van Dijk outside Liverpool Football Club’s Anfield Stadium for their client, Paddy Power.
The stunt was in response to the recent signing by Liverpool of van Dijk for a record club transfer fee of £75m. With debate raging over whether these players are worth their weight in gold, they wanted to show Liverpool fans what £75m in gold actually looks like.
Asked about the statue spokesman Paddy Power said: “Transfer fees have gone absolutely crazy this season. I’m starting to think even I’d be worth at least £50 million.”
Erected outside Anfield, the statue, which took 180 hours to sculpt, quickly garnered attention. So far, coverage of the stunt has appeared on Sky Sports and been reported on by The Mirror, The Sun, The Daily Express, The Liverpool Echo.
The Public House have a long and infamous history in helping Paddy Power court controversy, from creating a 70-foot apparition of the Virgin Mary holding the Sam Maguire Cup aloft at Knock to creating a yob-proof betting office on the eve of an Ireland vs. England game.
The activation for Paddy Power continues a great start to 2018 for the growing independent creative agency, who just launched new campaigns for newly signed client partners 123.ie and Green Isle Foods. Longer standing clients for the agency include Jameson, Just Eat and Ryanair.
The Public House are an independent ad agency based in Dublin, Ireland. Their core belief is “Boring Doesn’t Sell”, and their leadership team have brought years of experience from overseas to offer something different in Dublin.