Marketing mischief a good bet for Paddy Power

During the 2011 Ryder Cup in Medina Golf Club, Chicago, television cameras captured Rory McIllroy as he looked into a cloudless sky to see ‘GO RORY!’ being spelt out by a plane emitting puffs of smoke from its bowels. He stopped, took out his phone and took a photo.

Back in Clonskeagh, Dublin, Paddy Power’s head of mischief Ken Robertson sat back in his chair and smiled.

The bookmaker had hired five planes to fly over the course and issue messages of support from people on Twitter to the European team with the hashtag #goeurope.