Paddy Power: Laces

It's 2013 and sadly homophobia in football is still rife. Paddy Power is never one for shirking the big, thorny subjects that the powers that be sweep under the carpet. So what better way to support gay footballers than giving real players the chance to let their boots do the talking with a pair of rainbow laces. A pair has been sent to every player in Britain, in the hope that the laces will become a truly iconic and symbol of change in the modern game. The campaign is a result of collaboration between Paddy Power, Stonewall, media agency M2M, and creative agencies CP+B and Lucky Generals. There are over 5,000 professional footballers across England, Scotland and Wales but none of them are openly gay - it is widely recognised that gay footballers are too worried about the impact on their careers and personal lives to 'come out' rather than there being no gay footballers, a scenario that has odds of over a quadragintillion to one!