Let me take you back a few months to the annual Cheltenham Gold Cup- one of the meetings on the horse racing calendar. The Gold Cup’s sponsors, Paddy Power, decided to put a ‘Hollywood style sign’ on one of the fields overlooking the course. Great advertising. 

And that got Paddy Power thinking. What if they did it again somewhere else? Bigger? And better??

So they did. But Paddy Power needed a sporting event with fields- and plenty of overlooking space. Football, rugby, cricket and tennis are played in enclosed spaces- and virtually impossible to form vantage points for. Indoor sports like boxing and snooker would certainly prove impossible. 

So what about Formula One? Or Moto GP? Or outdoor cycling? Golf? The 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales? Bingo. 

So the bookmakers set off towards the Celtic Manor Golf Course in Newport and found a farmer only too willing to hire out the use of his fields for the duration of the event. And on Tuesday night (28/09/10), the sign began to take shape.

And then came nightfall. And rain. Not the most conducive elements for erecting a 270ft promotional sign, but needs must.  Besides, the word was out (quite literally).

By morning, the sign was up. Hurrah! But not without controversy. An early morning court injunction was served by Monmouthshire County Council to remove the sign. Mr Paddy Power himself was asked to attend a noon hearing at Cardiff County Court. Boooo….

So it was mighty important to enjoy the fun while it lasted. And when the golfers came out to play a few practice rounds this morning, the Paddy Power sign greeted the European and American golfing heavyweights as they prepared to tee off in the never ending rain.

The European team ‘got it’- and clearly game for a laugh, adopted a few dodgy wigs and fake ‘taches. Anyone who might have hoped that the local Welsh council would ‘calm down’ and withdraw their court order were sadly disappointed. Paddy still had to make the trip down the road to Cardiff to see if the sign would live to see the first day (Friday 1/10/10) of the Ryder Cup proper.

Paddy seemed confident though: “I’m hopeful for a positive outcome today. The plan was always for the sign to give the Irish lads on Team Europe an extra kick on the final few holes at Celtic Manor.”

Rain. Mud. And a shit result at court. A disappointing outcome- but not before a last ditch Twitter campaign to try and rally support ahead of the hearing. Ultimately unsuccessful. And in came the diggers.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The establishment won the day. And another advertising stunt was foiled.

As Paddy concluded: “We are clearly the victims of bureaucratic bullies and rich golf course owners but we will respect the verdict of the court.

“I guess it’s a textbook case of ‘we fought the law- and the law won’.”

But who was the real winner in all of this? The Ryder Cup? Not really. The council? A little. Paddy Power? Quite considerably. Yet not as nearly as much as the farmer. Hired his field. Got his money. And soon he’ll be getting his field back in one piece too. A hearty congratulations to that man.

And here the tale ends. Paddy Power has until 12pm tomorrow to remove the lettering from the advertising hoarding.

Good effort lads. The Hollywood-style sign was certainly worthy of a Hollywood-style ending.

Photographs courtesy of Paddy Power.