Fox Sports lullaby spot. (Pick of the Month).(controversial new ad features Mike Tyson)(Brief Article) - Creative Review

FROM CLIFF FREEMAN & PARTNERS, NEW YORK

The knockabout humour of Cliff Freeman's Fox Sports campaigns has won the agency many awards and huge acclaim over the past few years but some of that lustre looks to have been dulled by a recent spot featuring former heavyweight boxing champion, Mike Tyson. In the film, Tyson is seen cradling and singing a lullaby to a baby. John Kruk, presenter of Fox Sports' Best Damn Sports Show Period, then enters the bedroom with his wife: they are off out for the evening, Tyson is their babysitter. Cue endline to the effect that athletes will do anything to get on Kruk's show. The spot caused a huge, media-led, outcry in the US, so much so that Fox pulled it only three days after it aired. 'Using Tyson in this way was perhaps more provocative than anticipated,' a Fox spokesman was reported to have said. But, given Tyson's current status as bogeyman supreme, what on earth were they expecting? Written by Rob Carducci and Dan Kelleher. Directed by Hughes Brothers, Oil Factory, Hollywood