Creative Corner: Domino's 'shirtiette', Deliveroo's Pizza Crouch and the Ivory Coast is gifted some Irish fans

The World Cup is deep into week two as I type, and the campaigns are still flowing.

This week, the battle for pizza share of slice heats up as Domino's and Deliveroo serve up pizza-proof football shirts and a giant Pizza Crouch between them, and Paddy Power and Levi's create social media masterclasses with a flipped national flag and a cleverly repurposed stadium cover-up.

A football shirt designed to be messed with

Dri-fit, Aerofit, HEAT.RDY clima-cool, compression fit, all monikas of the high-tech football shirts that will be donned by the finest football players on the planet this summer. But what of the beer-swilling, food-spilling, profusely sweating fans? Domino’s has a fix for that.

The pizza giant has unveiled its "shirtiette", a pizza-friendly England and Scotland shirt made entirely from napkin material. Designed specifically for matchday mayhem, the limited-edition kits promise maximum absorbency, allowing fans to tackle sauce spillages, topping tumbles and flying drinks without fear.

It’s the perfect solution to the inevitable flying pint.

In a neat nod to past heroics, the pizza giant rolled out former England captain Terry Butcher, famous for his blood-soaked shirt during England's 1989 World Cup qualifier, recreating the iconic image using pizza sauce. It's a visual gag that instantly connects football history with modern fan culture.

Nobody was asking for a shirt made from napkins, but that's precisely why people are talking about it. 

1-nil to Domino's in the football pizza battle.

Going large with Pizza Crouch

I see your ‘shirtiette’ Domino's, and I raise you….a Pizza Crouch!

Deliveroo has entered the football pizza battle, and on puns alone has planted a deserved equaliser firmly in the back of the net.

Created in partnership with former England striker Peter Crouch, the campaign transforms one of football's most recognisable figures into a 6ft 7in pizza, matching the towering height that made him such a distinctive presence on the pitch (robot dancing aside). While sporting legends are often immortalised in statues, murals or memes, Deliveroo has chosen a giant takeaway.

With enough slices to feed an entire starting XI, the limited edition Pizza Crouch was launched just in time for England’s first game against Croatia and Scotland’s second match versus Morocco.

I can see this type of stunt being rolled out in forthcoming games if Scotland and England go deep in the tournament. Half and half pizzas instead of scarves anyone?

Flipping a flag and celebrating a cover up, Paddy Power and Levi's win the World Cup

Some creative ideas require months of planning, vast production budgets and complicated explanations. Others simply require a spark of genius.

As masters of the meme, Paddy Power’s latest World Cup stunt falls firmly into the latter category. With Ireland absent from the tournament, the bookmaker spotted an obvious but overlooked truth: the flag of the Ivory Coast is essentially the Irish tricolour in reverse. Suddenly, Irish football fans have a ready-made second team to support.

The execution couldn't have been simpler. Reverse the flag. Swap green, white and orange for orange, white and green. Invite a nation nursing qualification disappointment to adopt the Ivorians for the summer. Every major tournament sees fans adopting second teams. Paddy Power has nailed this one. No lengthy explanation required.

It seems visual twists are abundant in this World Cup. With football authorities obscuring Levi’s branded stadium signage during World Cup tournament broadcasts (and when I say obscured, I mean comically wrapping its highly distinguishable 3D logo), rather than lament the lost branding opportunity, Levi's joined the conversation and claimed the moment as its own. Spotting that the covered logos looked remarkably like the brand's iconic Batwing logo (I told you it is comic) Levi's captured the comic wrap with the voice over, “Nobody’s going to know”, “how would they know?”, “they’re gonna know”. Not bad publicity for a non-tournament sponsor.

Sometimes the best ideas are just staring you in the face.

That's it for this week's Creative Corner.

If you’ve seen something that’s caught your eye, or if you’ve been working on something you’re particularly proud of, please do get in touch via paul.lucas@fanclubpr.com. I’d love to hear about it.