In late August, the NFL promoted its upcoming 2023/24 season through a humorous campaign inspired by pop-culture speculation and sport blending into the entertainment space and titled ‘You Can’t Make This Stuff Up’.
Created by agency 72andSunny (New York) and produced by Biscuit Filmworks, this US kick-off campaign is based on the conspiracy theorist idea that most major historical moments – including football games – are actually planned. Or more specifically scripted
Fronted by actor/comedian (and long-time Detroit Lions fan) Keegan-Michael Key and starring some of the league’s biggest names, the narrative arc features an elite team of leading players taking part on a (fictitious) table read. Comic Key plays the role of ‘director’, while players pitch their own potential plot twists for the upcoming season.
The launch videos features a strong line-up of leading players: including Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs), Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs), Jason Kelce (Philadelphia Eagles), Justin Fields (Chicago Bears), Kirk Cousins (Minnesota Vikings), DK Metcalf (Seattle Seahawks), Dexter Lawrence (New York Giants), Ja’marr Chase (Cincinnati Bengals), Jalen Ramsey (Miami Dolphins) and even Donna Kelce (mother of the Kelce brothers).
The comedian opens the spot by recalling the ‘better-than-fiction stories’ from last season: including the Kelce brothers facing off in Super Bowl LVII, Mr Irrelevant (Brock Purdy – the final pick of the 2022 Draft) saving the San Francisco 49ers season and even a halftime baby announcement.
Then, the new season table read quickly starts to get out of hand as the players begin reeling off their own fantastical, outrageously unlikely ideas and plot twists for the new season. For example, Metcalf volunteers to do a no-handed, abs-only catch, while Mrs Kelce dreams up a romantic storyline with Jimmy Garoppolo and a shirtless Cousins suggests a regular season shirts v skins game.
The tongue-and-cheek 60-second ‘The Table Read’ spearhead commercial dropped on 24 August (ahead of the season’s 7 September start) across broadcast partner channels and the NFL’s own media platforms. It was backed by a second, follow-up, minute-long ‘The Last Page’ spot.
The campaign debuted during the inaugural Thursday Night Football broadcast now streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video: following the league’s 10-year deal with the streaming giant signed back pact in 2021.
Both spots were helmed by Director Aaron Stoller with support from production company Biscuit Films.
According to NFL Marketing Chief Tim Ellis, the players themselves were having so much fun that they organically added to the original approved script like an improve sessions.
The integrated promotional initiative spans TV, social and digital and will run through the season. An additional 16 pieces of content are scheduled to roll out around key moments during the season: including Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas and international games.
“This year, it felt appropriate to let loose and have fun. Also, we wanted to highlight the entertainment value of NFL football,” outlined 72andSunny ECD Zach Hilder. “The NFL is so much bigger than players and plays. The storylines are epic. The plot twists are sometimes almost unbelievable. We tried to remind fans of that without being heavy-handed. Plus, we wanted to see Justin Fields pitch the idea of swapping his legs for wheels. I mean, who doesn’t want to see that?”
72andSunny Founder and Creative Chair Glenn Cole added: “We first discussed the idea of a “Scripted” campaign back in February. NFL fan culture and meme culture share a fun obsession with scripted storyline conspiracies. Even the athletes love to play with it. So when the new season approached, we leaned into it. We knew we had the right idea when we pitched it to the players. D.K. signed on before he even saw the script. Tim pitched Mahomes, the Kelces, and Kirk Cousins, who fearlessly leaned into it. Just look at Kirk. Fearless!
NFL chief marketing officer Tim Ellis explained: “No one is expecting this. It’s taking the opportunity to have some fun with a popular meme and myth out there that the season is fixed. And our fans aren’t accustomed to the NFL making fun of itself. Self-effacing wouldn’t be the first thing that comes to mind when you think NFL. So, we kick off our season by stating, “You’re right, it’s all made up.” We think fans are going to eat it up, and hopefully it will remind them why they love this game so much. It will encourage deeper engagement and that sense of community.
“Understanding what our fans want and even need to hear from us is crucial,” continued Ellis. “So, it’s about football, but it’s also about cultural leadership. And sometimes it’s simply about escape and tapping into the excitement and anticipation of the return of the season. Creatively, we also look to tap into emerging artforms and storytelling. And yes, even memes and urban myths. This is critical in order to stay relevant and retain that edge. Football is one of those games where literally anything can happen in a season. Your team may have been at the bottom of their division last year, and suddenly you find yourself in contention for the Super Bowl. It’s also true that the quality, competitiveness and intensity of the matchups and rivalries over the last few seasons have been insane. So, we knew that we had an incredible level of momentum and pent-up excitement going into the 104th season.
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Aimed at exciting fans and building buzz around the official start of the new football season, this work leans into meme and pop culture, while positioning the NFL as the pinnacle of both sport and entertainment – a stage for stories so exciting and compelling that they are better than fiction.
In other words, it is ‘better than fiction’.
This project shows the NFL combining a typically NBA level of cultural awareness with high entertainment value. It pokes fun at conspiracy theorists, meme makers and troll detractors with humour and understanding.
At Activative, we particularly love the idea that it was the players driving much of the humour. If, of course, that is actually true and not just a piece of scripted PR.
It will also be interested to follow the results of the subsequent three-year Amazon and Nielsen measurement agreement which sees the media measurement service titan seeks to adapt to and understand contemporary consumer viewing and purchasing behaviours linking viewing data, to ratings reporting and other behaviours.
The NFL’s own kick-off campaign rolled out in parallel to the launch of several major brands partners, like Bud Light and PepsiCo, also began rolling out NFL-related marketing ahead of the new season.
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