Ladbrokes has launched its latest TV advert, ‘Rocky’, reimagining one of Cinema’s most iconic moments. 

Rocky is the second instalment of Ladbrokes’ brand-led advertising campaign, ‘We Play Together’, which launched last summer following the EURO 2020 championships.

The campaign sees the heritage bookmaker continue to work with London creative agency Neverland which, having won the account in 2021, has been tasked with repositioning the Ladbrokes brand for wider audiences.

Rocky is branded as a first-of-its-kind UK advert, developed using state-of-art VFX motion capture to recreate Rocky Balboa’s running montage, concluding with the boxer’s epic trek up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

“Under the We Play Together campaign, we’re bringing more entertainment and shared experiences to Ladbrokes, and we love to do this in unexpected ways,” remarked James Kennedy, UK Brand Marketing Director of Entain. 

“This scene is one of the most iconic in movie history and the Rocky Balboa character is a legend of the silver screen, so mixing things up with this piece of movie magic has been a lot of fun. We’re backing Rocky all the way!”

Shot in Budapest and requiring a cast of 250 costumed characters, Rocky has been branded as Ladbrokes’ most ambitious advert to be launched to market.

The advert was produced by Danish director Nicolai Fugslig, who previously created the world-renowned Guinness Sapeurs and Sony Bravia’s Balls adverts.

Further campaign developments saw Rocky’s ‘Gonna Fly Now’ theme song from the original film recomposed by The English Session Orchestra and sung by the London Voices Choir. 

“This is the most audacious and exciting creative idea I’ve ever been a part of,” said Neverland founder & Creative Director Jon Forsyth. 

“I can’t even begin to convey the amount of time, craft and skill that has gone into making this. It sets a new benchmark in filmmaking and I take my red headband off to the talent who have made this crazy idea a reality. Knock out.”

Ladbrokes and Neverland have garnered high praise for Rocky, which has been selected as ‘Editors Pick’ and ‘AD of the Week’ by Little Black Book and CampaignLive.