As part of KFC’s presenting sponsorship of ESPN8 “The Ocho,” ESPN’s in-house creative agency, ESPN CreativeWorks, has created a series of fun, off-beat vignettes that align with the day’s programming. Eight vignettes will air throughout a 24-hour period on Wednesday, August 8 on ESPN2.
ESPN8 “The Ocho” Presented by KFC Battle of the Buckets will feature scripted commentary and analysis from SportsCenter anchors John Buccigross and Kenny Mayne as they highlight a variety of sports events where athletes compete with KFC buckets on their heads. The vignettes will be seamlessly integrated alongside a lineup of alternative sports programming that will air throughout the day, including spikeball, cornhole, competitive eating, ping pong, hurling, darts, kabaddi, saber combat, SUMO wrestling, roller derby, chess boxing and – as an homage to the inspiration behind it all, “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” – dodgeball.
“CreativeWorks worked closely with KFC to develop this irreverent and humorous creative series that naturally connects the vignettes to the rest of our ESPN8 ‘The Ocho’ programming,” says Carrie Brzezinski-Hsu, Vice President, ESPN CreativeWorks. “We were also fortunate to have this dynamic cast of SportsCenter anchors, Bucci and Kenny, to participate in this series.”
Athletes featured in the vignettes include two-time PBA champion bowler Brad Angelo, eight-time NCAA All-American and 10-time Ivy League champion cross country and track runner Donn Cabral, 30-year veteran bocce player Keith Dorman, professional skateboarder Isiah Hilt, competitive power lifter and CrossFit competitor Nicole Rinaldi, and Super Lightweight professional boxer Josue “The Prodigy” Vargas.
ESPN CreativeWorks worked directly with KFC’s creative agency, Wieden+Kennedy Portland, on the creative in addition to Anchor Worldwide.
This is the second year in a row that ESPN will suspend regularly scheduled programming on one of its networks to bring fans the finest in seldom-seen sports from around the globe. In addition, supporting content will be available across ESPN platforms including ESPN.com, ESPN the Magazine and the ESPN flagship and ESPN Front Row social handles.
The complete KFC Battle of the Buckets series of vignettes is available at the following links:
