Image Credit (WikiMedia Commons)
Conor McGregor has been mocked online after appearing in a bizarre commercial for Ukrainian online betting company, Parimatch. See the video below:
The advert begins with Conor, clad in leather, flying through a desert skyline at sunrise, as the words ‘wake up champ’ are exclaimed in a husky American accent in the background.
The former two-weight UFC champion can later be seen squaring up to a cat, melting a gold bar with his bare hands and knocking out former heavyweight World Champion, Mike Tyson in what looks like a tacky video game. I wonder if McGregor could coax Tyson out of retirement as easily as he did Mayweather?
As slow rock music drones in the background, the narrator asks you to be iconic and ‘daring, extremely daring’.
Daring is perhaps one way to describe the advert. At one point, the Irishman has his face painted like The Joker (although he looks more like Heath Ledger’s portrayal than Joaquin Phoenix’s), while a silver-back gorilla can later be seen sitting on a gold throne, with one of McGregor’s trademark tattoo’s sprawled across its chest.
Aside from the corny American voice-over, flocks of yellow flamingoes and well-choreographed playboy bunnies copying McGregor’s famous walk, you can be forgiven for wondering how the advert actually relates to an online sports-betting company.
It’s not as if the Irishman is short of a pretty penny either. McGregor added Parimatch to his lengthy list of endorsements in February. At the time, the company’s CEO – Sergey Portnov- said that: “much like Parimatch, Conor McGregor dares to be different.”
Both in and out of retirement, McGregor has never been far from the forefront of the UFC circus. During his eventful career ‘The Notorious’ has endorsed world renowned brands like Burger King, Reebok and Beats by Dr Dre; to name but a few.
Although his latest commercial has received some criticism: with one person online commenting, “G-A-R-B-A-G-E”, and another,“Tyson. Are you serious?”
Although the Parimatch add is up there with McGregor’s more intriguing exploits. It is safe to say that one positive can be taken from Conor McGregor’s latest ambassadorship- besides his healthy bank balance. People are talking about him.
Conor McGregor isn’t the only celebrity to put his image on the line for a quick buck. Here’s how Sam L. Jackson became the first of many celebrities to put their voice on Alexa devices.
