ESPNcricinfo fuses horror with cricket for 'Bhoot Cricket Ka'campaign

ESPNcricinfo's 'Bhoot Cricket Ka' campaign aims to celebrate the ongoing cricket fever with IPL and ICC World Cup 2019.

While Mumbai Indian's have finally lifted the much coveted IPL trophy, ICC World Cup 2019 is on its way to have us on the edge of our seats and proudly cheer for our national team. Amidst all the ongoing crazy IPL match sessions, ESPNcricinfo, the digital platform covering all that cricket has launched a 4-part film campaign to celebrate the fandom and craziness around the sport in a spooky way.

Titled ‘Bhoot Cricket Ka’, the campaign spells horror literally in the two spots which are running during the IPL days and the other two will release a few days ahead of the World Cup set to kickstart on May 30.

In the first film, three friends are scouting an auto rickshaw on a deserted street at night while discussing Mahendra Singh Dhoni aka Mahi’s performance referring to one of the matches. An auto stops and offers them life.

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The second film takes the spookiness to the next level and a doll is introduced while the match commentary plays in the background.

The campaign builds on the momentum from ESPNcricinfo’s previous campaign #CricketsBiggestFanclub, by taking ‘fan-dom’ to its next level: obsession bordering on the paranormal. Through the #BhootCricketKa campaign,  Gaurav Thakur, director of marketing and business development at ESPNcricinfo asserts that ESPNCricinfo invites all cricket lovers to the platform that truly understands cricket fever the best. While humour cuts across age groups, it strikes a stronger chord with the younger audience of 15-25-year-olds, the target audience for the campaign.

The company went for a fresh and zany take on cricket fever. While horror-comedy genre is a totally fresh style not just in the category but even in the country, ESPNcricinfo wanted this campaign to stand out of the clutter of all other sports campaigns while latching onto the not much explored genre.

The ad films manage to evoke fear and at the same time tickle our funny bones a bit. Horror and Cricket, therefore, make a strong concoction on and the off field. The ad films are been shared on all it's social media channels with regular updates about the game.