Wallabies appear to prank rival teams in branded Volvo rugby stunts

Former Wallabies have taken part in a series of video stunts for Volvo in which they appear to carry out acts of sabotage on Australia’s visiting opponents.

In the most recent stunt – masterminded by rugby sponsor Volvo’s agency Arnold Furnace - Nathan Sharpe, Al Baxter, Tatafu Polota-Nau and Beau Robinson, appeared to trap the Springboks team coach inta cul-de-sacas it made its way to the Suncoorp Stadium in Brisbane at the weekend.

Previous stunts in the branded entertainment series have purported to show Radike Samo, Nathan Sharpe and Al Baxter posting a sign taunting the visiting All Blacks ahead of the Bledisloe series.

And in July Drew Mitchell, Sharpe and Polata-Nau appeared to wake up the visiting British Lions team with loud music outside their hotel at 2.30 in the morning.

The most viewed of the three videos is the Springboks stunt which has had just over 70,000 views on YouTube since being made visible on the Volvo YouTube channel. According to a statement from the agency:

“Arnold Furnace created the third spot in their tongue-in-cheek rugby sponsorship campaign for Volvo, by getting the Aussies to outsmart the Springboks last night, just hours before the Nathan Sharp, Al Baxter, Tatafu Polota-Nau and Beau Robinson did their bit for Australian Rugby again, this time in Brisbane, by sending the Springboks’ coach the wrong way en route to the stadium.

“Arnold Furnace ECD Tom Spicer said, ‘After failing to influence the result against the Lions and the All Blacks, the boys were desperate to deliver with this one, adopting a military style prep in the lead up to the game.  Although it didn’t translate onto the pitch, Nathan and the boys put in another stellar performance which the Springboks bought hook line and sinker.  At least I think it was them.’”

For anyone who doubted the authenticity of the pranks being shown, the video was first uploaded to the Volvo YouTube channel on August 26, nearly a fortnight before the ambush was supposed to have taken place.

The videos link back to Volvo’s positioning of “Doing our bit for Australian rugby”.

Credits:

• Arnold Furnace team:
• ECD: Tom Spicer
• Creatives: Cameron Brown, Luke Duggan. Peter Maniaty, Jack Nunn
• Producer: Christina Wilmot
• GAD: Michael Stevenson
• Account Manager: Tim Wiche
• Agency Partners:

Production House: Infinity Squared

• Director: Rob Stanton-Cook
• Producer: Ainslee Wood
• Post Production: Craig Deeker @ The Gingerbread Man
• Client: Matt Braid, Greg Bosnich, Gillian Bromiley, Jennifer Proctor