Challenger online betting brand MrQ has launched a new campaign combining tongue-in-cheek humour with a refreshingly simple and straightforward message around gambling: you win some, you lose some. But ultimately, it's all about the thrill of playing. Created by creative agency Fall Off The Wall (FOTW) and produced by Armoury, the campaign introduces MrQ as a no-nonsense gaming brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously - and is a surprisingly honest player within an industry not known for transparency and truthfulness.
The humorous campaign, directed by Armoury’s Simon Levene, centres on a series of six 30-second spots. In these relatively sarcastic, quick-fire win-or-lose vignettes we meet ‘The Player’ – a cool-as-a-cucumber character who plays things straight to the point of silliness, along with his portly sidekick and perfect comic foil.
From sculpting a clay pot Ghost-style, to appearing on a retro game show, playing chess, or attempting the classic magic trick of whipping a tablecloth from under a dinner service, the Player comes out on top or fails spectacularly in different versions of the same scenario. Yet always remaining sanguine about the outcome – epitomising the ‘You Win Some, You Lose Some’ line in a colourful way.
Founder of MrQ, Savvas Fellas comments: “As a business and as a brand, we like to tell it as it is. We’re realists and we want to appeal to realists. The realist who knows there will be losses and there might be wins. We are delighted with our new series of MrQ.com TV ads and extend our thanks to Fall Off The Wall and Armoury whose creative production work runs with the mantra of the realists - ‘You Win Some, You Lose Some’”
Creative agency FOTW developed the campaign for MrQ, crafting a series of comedic scripts for TV and digital, which were then brought to life by production company Armoury, together with director Simon Levene’s direction which focuses on humour, comic timing, craftsmanship and set design.
Marlon Griffin Creative Director Fall Off the Wall comments: “MrQ’s ‘The Player’ is a realist. He’s no faff and says it how it is. His character is lovable - and no matter how suave he tries to be, we see the human reality that not everything always goes his way. But he’s OK with that. He accepts that’s how life is as you ‘Win some, you Lose some’. I can’t wait to see the reaction to this campaign, I hope people like the spots as much as we do. We’ve created enough ads for a year's campaign, but our brains are already whirling for The Player’s next outing.”
“We love how honest this ad is - and that’s what appealed to us the most. We think it’s quite cool for a casino brand to dedicate 50% of their commercial to losing.” says Matt Hichens, Managing Director/Executive Producer at Armoury. “A great opportunity for Armoury to combine comedic timing with some really stylised set design and art direction to get brutally honest about life: ‘You win some, you lose some’”
Director Simon Levene through Armoury added: “We were able to mine deep into a very British, left of centre, fun, exaggerated-for-comic-effect style - and this gave us scope to take risks with a sense of heightened reality and dramatic colours that will be very memorable.”
Client: MrQ
Founder: Savvas Fellas
Head of Acquisition: James Booth
Head of Design: Noel Zahra
Agency: Fall Off The Wall
Agency Creative Director: Marlon Griffin
Agency Producer: Charlotte Morgan
Agency Senior Creative: Kieran Clark
Creative Production: Armoury
Director: Simon Levene
DOP: Ian Murray
Executive Producer: Matt Hichens
Producer: James Mclaughlin
Production Company: Armoury
Bulgarian Service Production Company: Four Elementz
Service Company Executive Producer: Rosen Savkov
Offline Edit: Work Editorial
Editor: Mark Edinoff
Grade: Electric Theatre Company
Colourist: Luke Morrison
Post Production: Fall Off The Wall
VFX Lead: Mark Wingell
VFX Designer: Hieran Chauhan
Audio: Sounds Good Studio
Sound Engineer: Martin Leitner