Eric Cantona's live TV stunt pays off

'The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will be live.'

Did anybody else see Eric Cantona literally break out of the matrix and completely derail the Showmax Matchday Live broadcast last week?

The Manchester United icon turned a routine segment into a bizarre philosophical outburst. And he left everyone watching thinking, 'WTF did I just witness?'.

I mean, I was genuinely concerned over his wellbeing. It felt like I was watching a full-blown menty b in real time.

But that’s not what was happening at all. In fact, what I was seeing was Cantona pulling off one of the boldest live television stunts in recent history. One that has captured the attention of brand enthusiasts and football fans alike.

Wait, what happened?

Football fans in Africa tuned in to their local feed of the Premier League's official game day show, Matchday Live, last Friday.

Things started out completely routine and innocent. Host Julika Stuart introduced two former Manchester United players as guests--Owen Hargreaves and, of course, the legendary Eric Cantona.

But things quickly began to feel off. Cantona said minimal words and was not interested in answering questions properly, leaving Hargreaves to pick up the slack. It was around the five-minute mark that sh*t got crazy.

Cantona stood up, ripped off his blazer and tie, pulling out his microphone and disturbing the green screen in the process.

He then walked over to one of the studio cameras, and began ranting into it, talking about how the 'revolution will not be televised, it will be live.'

Erm… you okay, bro?

Turns out, it wasn’t the collapsing of the man’s mental state. Instead, it was an elaborate stunt for streaming coverage of the Premier League on Showmax, which has the online rights to live PL matches across Africa.

Stuart, Hargreaves and Cantona recorded the segment exclusively for the African audience. It was seen by viewers not only on Showmax itself but those watching live on YouTube and on other cable/satellite TV providers.

The reactions were immediate.

And the clip has since gone viral, driving big results, with #EricCantona trending across the globe. #ShowmaxPL and the campaign hashtag #ForEveryoneEverywhere were trending on X for hours in South Africa, as well as in Kenya.

'The stunt drove a 72% increase in PR coverage week on week, drove more than R35 million in PR value and was mentioned more than 56 000 times on social media. The stunt has been covered on major football sites across the world including SPORTbible, Daily Mail, and more,' says MultiChoice Group CMO, Yatish Narsi.

The segment drove more than $4 million in earned media.

'The reason for the stunt is Showmax’s value proposition,' said Yatish. 'To echo Cantona’s sentiments, the revolution is here! The revolution is about having the Premier League on your phone and at an affordable price.

Hundreds of millions of people will finally be able to consume the greatest football league on the planet, for a fraction of what it costs to attend a live match in England while cheering on superstar African players, in real time.'

Well, that’s one way to make an annoucement like that.

To stunt, or not to stunt?

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a clever marketing stunt pulled off like this one. The last one I can recall was when Tubi interrupted the Super Bowl, with what looked like a Smart TV interface being messed with.

Stunts like these are a great way to cut through the noise of traditional marketing and give audiences something to talk about. When they work, they can have a huge impact.

However, they can be difficult to pull off successfully. This is why we don’t see them attempted too often. If you’re going to try this at home, make sure your stunt is unexpected, clever, and scalable. Use a trustworthy team to help you pull it off.

A stunt, by definition, is a daring move. So make sure the event is surprising and compelling enough to capture interest without pissing people off.

The takeaway here is if you’re putting your brand in the centre of attention, you'd better have a plan.

-Sophie, Writer