Wagatha’s Back! Coleen Rooney Tackles Man City’s FFP Legal Case in Paddy Power’s Justice Refund

When bookies Paddy Power decided they were going to take on the Manchester City financial fair play legal case, there was only one person they could turn to to get to the bottom of the case: the icon herself, Coleen Rooney.

The so-called ‘Justice Refund’ is Paddy Power’s biggest ever and it will see them refund all bets on teams that came second to Man City since 2011, a seven figure sum. That’s because the team has been taken to court over breaches of financial fair play rules - and while the arguments wrapped up last December, the verdict on 117 cases is still outstanding.

Financial scandals may not seem obvious fodder for a bookmaker’s marketing campaign, but for the Paddy Power team, it was something they felt strongly about and could see a clear route to connect with fans.

“It’s a saga that has blighted the game for years. Fans are fed up with it and have been kept in the dark about what’s going on. Football finance seems to be more of a talking point than the actual games themselves which is incredibly frustrating,” says Jack Wilson, Paddy Power head of content and PR. “That just doesn’t sit right with us, and we felt this was a great way to give football fans something back in a fun and meaningful way. It was great to be able to reward fans whilst also portraying our natural Paddy Power style humour.”

Coleen Rooney is no stranger to Man City herself - her husband Wayne notably played for their biggest rivals, Manchester United. But that’s not the only reason Paddy Power called: Coleen’s lore goes deep. She is also the iconic Wagatha Christie, who used her social media smarts to track down the person who was leaking stories about her and her family to the UK tabloid press (for the uninitiated it was ............. Rebekah Vardy’s account!)

The spot was created inhouse at Paddy Power, by creatives Noel Slevin and Steven Quick - and it’s packed with gags, including jabs at suspicious sounding Arsenal fans and VAR conspiracy theories. There’s a nod to her time in the I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Jungle, when she came second to McFly’s Danny Jones. And yes, even they’ve got in on the Jet2 holiday meme.

As Jack explains, the key to the humour is that they really understand the Paddy Power audience. “We’ve always been a very social-led brand with incredible people in-house behind the scenes creating compelling and hilarious content – and it means we’re really in-tune with what makes our audience tick. It certainly makes writing the scripts a bit easier.”

“Working from home and constantly hearing Jet2 holiday jingles on the radio certainly helped with that joke too!” he adds.

But Coleen also brought her own comic sensibilities to the fore. “Coleen just ‘got it’ straight from the off,” says Jack. “She’s got a great sense of humour and personality, and proved her comedic timing is spot on with that look to camera. It’s not her usual role but she was so natural and it was one of those where you see the first take and just know ‘that’s it!’. Having talent so open to being creative and fun on set made it a really fun experience.”

Paddy Power is not a brand that’s shy of taking on hot topics or breaking taboos. With the new season of the Premier League about to start, it was the perfect time to address something that’s been a huge frustration for football fans.

“It’s serious and a real issue for football fans, and if we want to be taken seriously it’s important we address these things in the game head-on,” explains Jack. “There’s a real fan sentiment of being extremely frustrated by the FFP case happening in the shadows and away from the public eye – let alone taking years to solve - which actually has real importance for their teams on the pitch.

“This was our way of showing up and demonstrating we want to be a part of that conversation – not pretend it doesn’t exist or think we’re part of the ‘establishment’ who can’t mention it.”