Putin down the Russians - How Paddy Power stuck it to Vlad ahead of the Euro 2016 clash with England
Chat shit. Get banged. Euro 2016 style!
It really wouldn’t be Paddy Power mischief without some kind of truck stunt would it? Following in the tyre-tracks of the ‘Referendum truck’ and ‘The truck that shall not be named’ we’ve gone and goaded the Russians on the streets of London.
Ahead of the Ruskies clash with England in their opening Group B Euro 2016 game on Saturday night (8pm kick-off) the Paddy Power Mischief team banged heads and sent a truck to the Russian Embassy in Kensington bearing a very striking message. An illustration of Jamie Vardy’s right arm and trademark cast, along with the Leicester frontman’s infamous Facebook slogan ‘Chat Shit, Get Banged’ spelled out with letters from the Russian alphabet (our Russian ain’t great).
The Russians have already been chatting shit in the run-up to the crunch clash, and England fans will be hoping Roy Hodgson’s team can dish out some punishment in Lille on Saturday.
Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev put it up to the Three Lions ahead of the game by saying: “We knew before the groups were drawn that we had to play a top seed. We talked about it, and how we wanted to be drawn with England.” Rascal. Meanwhile, midfielder Denis Glushakov uttered further shit chat, saying: “In my personal opinion it will be easier to play against England than Slovakia and Wales. Our mood is that we are ready to fight. We are ready to kill them on the field, or die trying.” Steady on, pal.
Jamie Vardy bagged 23 league goals this season in Leicester’s march to the title, and he’ll play a key attacking part in England’s campaign alongside Golden Boot winner Harry Kane, Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge and Manchester United duo Wayne Rooney and Marcus Rashford.
To be fair to the brains in Mischief the original idea was slightly more extravagant than a truck outside someone’s gaff in central London. The plan was to project the image on to Red Square in the heart of Moscow and really shake up the Russians. However the threat of a jail sentence and fines that accumulated to more than Greece’s national debt meant our legal team had to purchase new trousers. Luckily, we always have a truck to fall back on. #Strategy.
Our rep on the ground on Friday morning was Paddy Power PR man Feilim MacUnpronounceable. We asked him to give us some behind-the-scenes gold during this covert mission and sneaky snaps of the lads getting the truck to the Russian Embassy. Unfortunately, this is what we got:
- There’s a coach park literally next to the Russian Embassy! I met the truck driver there and we had a Greggs for breakfast – I had a sausage breakfast roll and burnt my tongue (sad emoji face)
- We met at 5:45am as that’s when the guards took up their posts. They had these hilarious hats on and looked ridiculous altogether
As for the ‘behind the scenes’ photos, we received a screenshot of Google Maps, a screengrab of a snapchat Feilim took on his phone, and a picture the lorry driver took in which he is using his hand to block out the sun…
That’s PR, folks.
England are unsurprisingly favourites for the clashwith Russia’s team weakened through a few injuries. Leonid Slutski’s men are outsiders, while the draw – not necessarily the worst result for anyone – is a punt, we say.