In this week’s episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, Will and I had the pleasure of chatting with Ken, now CEO at The Tenth Man, about the time he found himself in the middle of one of Paddy Power’s most controversial stunts. And let me tell you, it’s a story worth hearing.
It all started with a wild plan: sponsor a basketball game in North Korea with Dennis Rodman. Yes, that Dennis Rodman. As Ken explained, “Kim Jong-un wasn’t impressed with the Harlem Globetrotters, so we came up with the idea to bring a US team to play North Korea on Kim’s 30th birthday. Paddy Power would sponsor it, of course.”
Sounds like typical Paddy Power, right? But then the situation took a darker turn. Just before the event, Kim Jong-un went on a purge, executing half his government, which suddenly put the spotlight on Paddy Power for supporting such a regime. “Big questions were asked. The UN got involved. We came under massive pressure,” Ken told us.
I had to ask, “Is there a moment where you think, ‘this has gone too far’?”
Ken’s answer? “Yeah, that was one of the few times I lost a lot of sleep over it.”
This episode is packed with lessons for any marketing professional willing to walk the tightrope of risk and reward. If you’re looking for insight into how to push creative boundaries—and when to step back—this one is a must-listen.
Listen to the full episode here
Chris Norton is the founder of Prohibition and an award winning communications consultant with more than twenty years’ experience. He was a lecturer at Leeds Beckett University and has had a varied PR career having worked both in-house and in a number of large consultancies. He is an Integrated PR and social media blogger and writes on a wide variety of blogs across a huge amount of topics from digital marketing, social media marketing right through to technology and crisis management.
