• by Aaron Baar , September 4, 2015

The college football season is here, and the competition is not just heating up on the field. It’s going down at Bo Jackson’s house.

As the season gets underway this weekend, AT&T is extending its college football “Legends” campaign (which last year featured a few college football greats ribbing each other while they watched the football championship game) into a season-long effort that pits 10 stars against each other for the opportunity to sit on Jackson’s couch to watch the NCAA Football Playoffs.

“This year, we wanted to make it a season-long campaign,” Meredith Vincent, director of advertising for AT&T, tells Marketing Daily. “We’re really bringing this approach to all our activations this year.” 

The premise of this year’s campaign depicts Jackson hosting a competition among the legends for the opportunity to watch the college football playoffs with him. Using AT&T’s “America’s strongest network” positioning, the competition is billed as the “Strongest of the Strong.” (The contenders for the honor are: Roger Staubach, Herschel Walker, Doug Flutie, Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Steve Young, Desmond Howard, Rocket Ismail, Danny Kannell and Ron Dayne. ESPN commentators including Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Rece Davis will also appear in a few spots to air exclusively on the network.)

In all, a total of 10 spots (from agency BBDO) will roll out over the season, where the contenders compete for Jackson’s attention. Competitions will include face painting and cheese plate creations, as well as feats of strength to determine who is the strongest. 

In the introductory spot for the campaign, Jackson explains the competition and challenges to his compatriots. When Kannell asks how washing Jackson’s car relates to the football playoffs, Jackson tosses him from the competition. (A second spot pits Dayne and Staubach against each other in an “armchair quarterback” competition. Staubach wins by falling asleep. “No one likes an armchair quarterback,” Jackson explains.) 

The campaign will also include social media elements from the contenders to keep fans engaged and a digital leaderboard on AT&T’s website for consumers to check out and view additional content.

“There will be a unique set of challenges to put them through on social,” Vincent says. “That’s where the fans are engaging these days, and we really wanted to bring these elements to them.”