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The last time I saw men dressed as penguins sliding all over each

other (on TV), I was a little boy and Cheggers was just starting to play

with some serious pop. So it is with a certain amount of nostalgia that

I welcomed It’s a Knockout back to my TV screen.

Revived for the 90s with Keith Chegwin and Frank Bruno, it’s the same

format with one vital difference - this Knockout comes to you with added

sponsorship, courtesy of a package devised by Motive for restaurant and

pub chain Beefeater.

Motive has created a hybrid mix of stealth media, including sponsorship,

a series of advertiser-funded cooking programmes (Great British Food

Made Special) and a planned publishing deal to put recipe books in

magazines and Beefeater restaurants.

But it’s the revival of It’s a Knockout which really caught my eye. The

creative execution around the programme breaks is spot on, and Beefeater

has created a clever slice of everyday life to support the overall ’A

Big Love For British Food’ campaign.

’Real’ people, percussion and abstract eccentricity season the main

ingredients of enthusiastic crowds and bone-threatening games. Fantastic

fun, especially the bit with competitive Dads, who believe pain is God’s

way of telling us to carry on.

As part of a media mix, this sponsorship seems wholly appropriate,

non-intrusive and entertaining. Welcome home Cheggers, well done Motive.