What it had to solve
Chunky's NFL sponsorship needed an integrated 2016-17 season campaign built on fantasy football's massive popularity, celebrating the daily victories of 'everyman' — from Super Bowl stars to busy parents and loyal neighbours.
The idea
Reverse fantasy football: the NFL superstars become the league's general managers, and ordinary fans are the ones who get drafted onto their teams.
How it works
Fans created an Everyman All-Star player card at EverymanLeague.com and were placed on a star's team and into a sweepstakes for Super Bowl LI tickets and autographed gear. Six players — Drew Brees, Odell Beckham Jr., Eddie Lacy, Todd Gurley, Eric Ebron and Kyle Long — starred in two launch spots, 'Montage' and 'Draft Day', set in Brees' basement, with four more spots through the season on ESPN, NFL Network and YouTube, plus a Chunky food truck touring supermarkets and stadiums on game days.
What it did
The league ran all season with on-air and digital integrations on NFL Network and ESPN, local market activations and player meet-and-greets; the sweepstakes closed December 4, 2016. No entry or sales figures were disclosed in the coverage.
Background
In August 2016 Campbell's Chunky soup, the Official Soup Sponsor of the NFL, launched the Everyman All-Star League with Y&R New York: a fantasy football league run backwards. Six star players — Drew Brees, Odell Beckham Jr., Eddie Lacy, Todd Gurley, Eric Ebron and Kyle Long — acted as the league's general managers, while 'everyday' participants were the ones who got drafted, with the draft room staged in Drew Brees' basement.
Fans joined by building an Everyman All-Star player card at EverymanLeague.com, which placed them on one of the six managers' teams and entered a sweepstakes for Super Bowl LI tickets, NFL-licensed autographed gear and other prizes. Brand manager Abby Elu framed the reversal as celebrating 'the daily victories the everyman tackles on and off the field'.
The media plan carried the gimmick across the whole season: two launch films, four more spots premiering on ESPN, the NFL Network and YouTube, on-air and digital integrations, local activations tied to Campbell's NFL team deals, and a Chunky food truck sampling new flavours at supermarkets and stadiums on game days. Coverage disclosed reach mechanics but no entry counts or sales results.
Why it lands
Fantasy football already makes fans act as managers of real stars; the campaign inverted that one relationship instead of inventing a new mechanic, so it was instantly legible.
The prize ladder put ordinary players one draft pick away from the Super Bowl, which made the 'everyman' positioning concrete rather than a slogan.
Six individually named stars lent their own fanbases to the same pool, multiplying the sponsorship's reach without multiplying the message.
What you can take
Flip the fan-star hierarchy: in fantasy sports the fan plays manager, so putting the pros in charge of the draft turned a sponsorship into a game fans could enter.
Since then
The Everyman All-Star League ran through the 2016-17 NFL season, with the final four spots and the food truck tour continuing to December 2016; the sweepstakes legally closed December 4, 2016. Coverage at launch did not disclose participation or sales outcomes.
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