Michelle McManus is back singing Paddy Power's Scottish version of 'Vindaloo'
Apparently our marketing team 'spared no expense'
Michelle McManus – remember her? Hmmm, we’ll take a wild stab in the dark and guess you’re not Simon Cowell or a member of the McManus family so you don’t. She won the 2003 series of Pop Idol. Think the X-Factor only with a smaller budget and without Louis Walsh not really having a clue what’s happening.
The Krankies? Sit down kids and let us tell you a story of when we had four TV channels and Ceefax was the internet. They’re a much loved Scottish comedy act from the 80’s, famous for the BBC show Crackerjack. Oh, and former Rangers keeper, 52-year-old Andy Goram. And former Celtic and St Mirren striker Frank McAvennie – wow … it’s Scottish smorgasbord of sporting talent. Judy Murray was busy apparently.
OK, so we didn’t exactly break the bank on star names – however Paddy Power’s Marketing Team managed not to spend all of the budget on craft beers brewed by Czech virgin goats and strippers and rounded up a whole host of Scottish ‘icons’ including the Loch Ness Monster to bring you the latest Euro 2016 advert to hit your screens. All together now…
Yes, the crazy marketing folk in Power Tower have ‘gifted’ our celtic cousins with their own version of ‘Vindaloo’, proudly belted out by a load of passive-aggressive Scots, eating deep-fried chocolate in the drizzle somewhere up a mountain in the Highlands. Yes, we’re about as subtle as Kim Kardashian flashing her genitals at a smartphone camera when it comes to dancing around national stereotypes.
While Scotland might not be in France for Euro 2016, this fan song is one that all Scots can get behind as they undoubtedly cheer for each and every team that comes up against England at the tournament. ‘We don’t care that Scotland isn’t there, because we’ll be betting on you’s (England) to lose’ – Lennon and McCartney eat your heart out.
We were hoping to get some exclusive ‘behind the scenes’ snippets from the shoot, however our main marketing manager just sent a lot of blurry Snapchats of what seemed to be the window into Michelle McManus’s Winnebago. Suddenly this whole campaign makes total sense.
What we do know however is that Michelle McManus has ‘still got it’, The Krankies are hilarious craic altogether, and Andy Goram fancies West Germany to win Euro 2016, but you can never right off the Ottoman Empire. It certainly sounds like a strange day of filming.
Unfortunately the song won’t be available on iTunes so our wait for a UK number one continues. Maybe if we all get bollock naked on some demolition equipment, then it will happen. The advert was launched on TV during the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, and hopefully you’ll be seeing plenty more of it in the run up to Euro 2016.