DRUMMERS

ladbrokes

Few sights will ever live up to 100 drummers thrashing it in an empty football stadium at 3 am.

The brief was simple: Sound the nation’s anticipation for the Euros 2021.

The backdrop was anything but simple:

A wave of ever-tightening gambling restrictions and a 2-year pandemic had made big productions non-existent.

But sometimes, it’s under the tightest constraints that the best creative arises.

Ladbrokes realised it was time to step above the ‘Laddy’ reputation of the sector and move to entertainment.

The idea: Drum the nation's heartbeat during football’s most intense moment of anticipation. The penalty.

To achieve it, Director ‘Sam Brown’ hired just about every drummer in the country (an amazing feat in itself after a 2-year layoff).

Olympic ceremony Coordinator ‘Mike Dolbear’ masterminded the goliath ensemble.

Adele’s very own drummer ‘Ash Soan’ set the rhythm from his 18th-century Windmill studio (a true rockstar).

And the magicians at ETC countered all pandemic restrictions with flawless VFX.

In the end, it came down to penalties for England in the Euros final. They didn’t win.

But they won over the nation.

side-test-Untitled-1
Billboard-site-cropped-
billboard-2

LLOYD DANIEL