Apple - Public Displays of Encouragement
Apple wanted TBWA\Media Arts Lab to generate significant buzz and awareness for Ted Lasso and Apple TV+. The challenge was to create a campaign that would leverage a major cultural moment - the USMNT heading to the biggest soccer tournament - to spark nationwide social media conversation and earned media, ultimately driving viewership and subscriptions for the Emmy-winning series.
Creative Idea
Apple displayed giant, personalized Ted Lasso letters in USMNT players' hometowns.
Apple created personalized, giant-sized motivational letters from the Ted Lasso character, placed in the hometowns of every U.S. Men's National Soccer Team player, designed to spark social media engagement and promote the Apple TV+ series. The campaign cleverly used the show's fictional character's encouraging spirit to generate nationwide buzz and awareness for both the TV show and the streaming service.
Handwriting a 2.2 Billion Impression Pep Talk
27 Letters and a 200 Year Old Barn
To achieve the signature Ted Lasso aesthetic, the production team avoided standard digital rotations in favor of static, physical installations that appeared overnight. Each of the 27 unique letters featured the show's iconic yellow background and blue script, meticulously designed to mimic the handwriting of Jason Sudeikis. The media strategy was hyper - local, placing these massive "notes" in the specific hometowns of every player and coach Gregg Berhalter. Locations were chosen for maximum emotional resonance rather than high traffic, including a 200 year old barn in the Midwest and various local high schools.
A Social Strategy Built on Plywood
While the medium was traditional Out of Home, the execution was a "social - first" masterclass. TBWA\Media Arts Lab anticipated that the physical billboards would act as catalysts for digital content. The strategy relied on "fictional brand integration," where a character from Apple TV+ interacted with the real - world 2002 FIFA World Cup. This approach turned local physical assets into a global digital footprint as players like Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie shared the messages with their millions of followers.
The Most Discussed Soccer Campaign of 2022
The campaign’s impact far outpaced its physical footprint, generating over 2.2 billion PR impressions and an estimated $20 million in earned media value. By bridging the gap between sports culture and entertainment, the project was covered in over 700 articles. It successfully transformed the "Believe" TV trope into a genuine national rallying cry, reinforcing Apple’s brand identity through the lens of hope and optimism during a peak cultural moment.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Apple TV+ owned the unique intellectual property of Ted Lasso, a character synonymous with relentless optimism and the power of 'belief.' This allowed the brand to offer more than just a sponsorship; it could provide a distinct, heartwarming voice to a high-stakes athletic event.
Category
Traditional entertainment marketing relies on trailers, digital ads, and standard celebrity endorsements. Most sports-related activations are high-energy and slick, often lacking the personal, grassroots connection that makes hometown fans feel seen.
Customer
Fans and hometown communities wanted a way to celebrate their local heroes on a national stage. They craved an emotional, human connection to the USMNT that mirrored the underdog spirit and wholesome encouragement found in the Ted Lasso series.
Culture
The World Cup is a peak moment of national unity and hometown pride. By tapping into the 'wholesome' content trend and the cultural desire for sincerity over cynicism, the campaign resonated as a genuine gesture of support rather than a corporate stunt.
Company
Apple TV+ owned the unique intellectual property of Ted Lasso, a character synonymous with relentless optimism and the power of 'belief.' This allowed the brand to offer more than just a sponsorship; it could provide a distinct, heartwarming voice to a high-stakes athletic event.
Category
Traditional entertainment marketing relies on trailers, digital ads, and standard celebrity endorsements. Most sports-related activations are high-energy and slick, often lacking the personal, grassroots connection that makes hometown fans feel seen.
Strategy:
Infuse real-world sports milestones with Ted Lasso’s fictional optimism to turn hometown pride into a national conversation.
Customer
Fans and hometown communities wanted a way to celebrate their local heroes on a national stage. They craved an emotional, human connection to the USMNT that mirrored the underdog spirit and wholesome encouragement found in the Ted Lasso series.
Culture
The World Cup is a peak moment of national unity and hometown pride. By tapping into the 'wholesome' content trend and the cultural desire for sincerity over cynicism, the campaign resonated as a genuine gesture of support rather than a corporate stunt.
Strategy:
Infuse real-world sports milestones with Ted Lasso’s fictional optimism to turn hometown pride into a national conversation.
Results
The campaign achieved widespread global recognition, being cited as "ONE OF THE MOST WRITTEN AND TALKED ABOUT WORLD CUP ACTIVATIONS GLOBALLY." It garnered over $20+ MILLION in earned media, despite Apple TV+ not being an official World Cup sponsor. The campaign successfully generated significant buzz and positive sentiment around the USMNT and Ted Lasso.
$20M+
earned media
globally
most written and talked about World Cup activations
Strategy Technique
Hijack a Moment
Apple leveraged the major cultural moment of the USMNT heading to the biggest soccer tournament. This timely intervention generated nationwide social media conversation and earned media.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Turn Message into Product
The campaign transformed Ted Lasso's encouraging message into tangible, giant letters. These physical "products" were strategically placed to generate widespread social media buzz and earned media.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional in its authentic extension of a beloved character into the real world, leveraging witty and personal copywriting to create a highly shareable and impactful motivational message that resonated nationally and globally.
The personalized, long-form letters capture Ted Lasso's unique voice—a blend of folksy wisdom, humor, and unwavering optimism—making the campaign feel genuinely authentic and deeply personal to each player and their hometowns.
The campaign brilliantly combined traditional out-of-home advertising (billboards/banners), print media (local newspapers), and digital/social media, ensuring a cohesive and widespread narrative that transcended individual platforms.
By placing these oversized, personalized messages in the players' actual hometowns, the campaign created a tangible, immersive experience that fostered local pride and provided unique, shareable content.
The unconventional and heartwarming nature of the campaign was inherently newsworthy, successfully generating significant organic media coverage and discussion across major news and sports outlets without paid placements.
The campaign's magic came from the seamless synergy between Ted Lasso's signature empathetic copywriting and the strategically disruptive physical and digital placements, amplifying its emotional and cultural impact.
