Chess in adverts

[Tristan Clayton]

I spotted this chess-inspired advert on my train home* tonight:



...and it got me thinking that most uses of chess in advertising draw on the usual stereotypes of chessplayers as boring/nerdy/clever and the game as slow/dull/quiet.

This one's** a bit different, drawing on that feeling I'm sure most of us have had at some point. So what other aspects of our game have been used in advertising?

Does chess tend to be used to portray a company as trustworthy, intelligent, reliable, etc., or are there other examples of the game's characteristics being used in a more unorthodox or ironic way?

*the delayed 1738 from Loughborough Junction to Sutton, if you're interested. At least, that's what I think it's called. I've never heard it described any other way, except on the days when it becomes the cancelled 1738 from Loughborough Junction to Sutton.

**and no, I don't work for this company. Other financial service providers are available.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Inland Revenue (when it was called that) used to have chess images in its recruitment adverts.

[John Upham]

The BCM inbox received this item today:

Dear Sir,
this is to inform you that November 26th 2011 the first edition of Chess and Corporate Strategy Award will take place at the prestigious Villa Lazzaroni in Rome (see press release attached)

The prize is awarded by the association Chess and Corporate Strategy in collaboration with INSEAD Alumni Association Italy and NOVA Italian MBA Association, to leading representatives of the Italian and International corporate world who distinguished themselves for an innovative and successful strategic approach.

Francesco Starace, Enel Green Power CEO, and Melissa Peretti, VP Marketing American Express, will be awarded the prize in the presence of Professor Gabriele Gabrielli, Director of Luiss Executive MBA, and Lexy Ortega, 2009 Italian chess champion.

We do believe that this initiative will contribute to reaffirm the image of chess as a noble example of strategic thinking.

Should you wish to receive further information and details, feel free to contact me.

Best regards,
Matteo Melini
Marketing Specialist

[Jonathan Bryant]

This one is quite amusing.

[Arshad Ali]

This is a TV ad for a Romanian bank, with Topalov:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaLwzrHVBNs

[Jonathan Bryant]

Double post. Not sure what happened.

Delete. Delete.

[Jonathan Bryant]

Other chessplayers in adverts

Kasparov for fizzy drink
http://youtu.be/cUqXr9Jlhwc

Kasparov for search engine
http://youtu.be/BPIpWMCKEbk

Anand for computers
http://youtu.be/fk-2ic2BoZw

Korchnoi for milk
http://youtu.be/XUZSCb4EVrM



and while I'm here,

JayZ for computers
http://youtu.be/fsE0g-8CDQo

[Tristan Clayton]

I like the Audi/BMW one very much, and it's no surprise to see chess being used to sell financial services and products where the intellectual side of the game is used to lend the company trustworthiness and gravitas.

IT companies have also clearly seized on the opportunities an association with chess can provide.

I hadn't realised so many super-GMs had taken part in advertising campaigns! Blueberry yoghurt manufacturers clearly missed a trick in the 70s - I wonder what Karpov's jingle could have been?

Not wanting to promote a rival chess forum, but this page has a nice selection of historical chess-themed adverts:

http://www.chess.com/photos/view_album/ ... dvertising

...a disturbing number of which are pushing alcohol. Maybe that's where I've been going wrong all these years...

[David White]

Earlier this year I was in a small Italian town and was surprised to see a full length poster of Magnus Carlsen in a shop window modelling some designer clothes. The caption accompanying the poster helpfully advised that he was a chess Grand Master and Number 1 player in the world.

[Eoin Devane]

This reminds me of my surprise when, in New York last September, I was passed by a two-storey high image of Magnus Carlsen on the side of a bus! This was around the time that he began his modelling career with G-Star RAW.

[Stewart Reuben]

Advertising often uses the phrase 'Your best move is...' for example by estate agents togther with people playing.

I very much liked the one of Gary Lineker stealing Lennox Lewis's Walker's crisps. 'Don't steal my squares, man'.

Red Bull recently (it's on the ECF site). Very funny cartoon. It seems like a table tennis game, but when it pans out, it is a chess game being played. But they very politely turned down the opportunity to sponsor chess.

Guiness has used it. All the pieces were bottles of Guiness.

Only Watson and Farley Willaims ever then sponsored chess in Britain. The problem is we don't see the ad until it is running. By then all the money for promotion has been spent.

[Tristan Clayton]

Just found this online. The chess connection is tenuous to say the least.



Can't say I remember this particular product. The section of board we can see suggests a vaguely plausible (and legal) position.

[Reg Clucas]

Just found this online. The chess connection is tenuous to say the least.

Can't say I remember this particular product. The section of board we can see suggests a vaguely plausible (and legal) position.

I remember these, I think they were a mixture of dark and milk chocolates.

In the diagrammed position, K x strawberry cream looks tempting!

[JustinHorton]

Have we had this one?

[Tristan Clayton]

Love the yawning Bishop! I'd forgotten about that one.

I've had many a bad Bishop in my games that must have felt the same way.