P&G Battle of the Paddles at Super Bowl LVII

Ahead of Super Bowl LVII in Phoenix, P&G set out to create the best branded sports content and highlight its four core brands — Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Old Spice, and Tide — while also highlighting their brands’ authentic designation as the "Official Locker Room Products of the NFL." In order to cut through a crowded landscape of brand activations during one of the biggest live sports moments of the year, P&G knew that their execution had to appeal to both avid and casual NFL fans, including Millennial males, while also capturing new audiences in unique places beyond football-centric platforms.

The campaign's strategy focused on authenticity, which led to the discovery of a cultural trend among NFL players: the prominence of friendly yet competitive games of table tennis hosted in their respective team locker rooms. With this insight, P&G successfully brought these games to a national stage, leveraging table tennis’ popularity among football stars to create a program that drove consumer engagement and awareness with its brands ahead of Super Bowl LVII.

Tapping into that insight that table tennis was already an organic mainstay of NFL locker rooms, P&G brought the first-ever Battle of the Paddles to Super Bowl LVII: a double elimination table tennis tournament where select NFL players with ping pong acumen duke it out for the ultimate title. The tournament aired live on Twitch and Amazon for fans beyond those on the ground in Phoenix, providing each player the opportunity to represent their team and take the competition outside of individual locker rooms.

Product integrations came to life in the physical locker room setup at Super Bowl Experience and within Twitch integrations like the "Tide Clean Shot Replay" and "Old Spice Moment of Swagger". The momentum throughout the livestream unlocked deals and exclusive offers on Amazon to viewers throughout the event. The tournament's success has solidified its place in the NFL cultural zeitgeist with future competitions planned next season.