Sports Direct wanted a Christmas campaign for a unique World Cup winter — unapologetically football and unapologetically festive. The brief: build football credibility, stand out in a crowded market, and put Sports Direct front of mind for Christmas purchases.

We got thinking about that crowded field; the plethora of Christmas ads that would be going out at the same time. That led the team to hit upon the big idea – rather than just trying to stand out against them, we’d insert ourselves into them.

We decided to recreate some classic Christmas advertising forms and then hi-jack them with what everyone really wants: football. We even bought ad space in the places you’d expect to find the ads we were mimicking - with our ‘Supermarket’ ad going out in the middle of Bake Off and other similar buys.