Peaky Blinders has built a diehard following since it first aired in 2013, captivating fans with a blend of gangster bravado, 1920s fashion and contemporary rock music. Returning for its fifth series, its growing popularity saw it move channels from BBC Two to BBC One. A more mainstream audience meant the brief challenged us to unlock the power of its fanbase to demonstrate its cult status.
After finding masses of fan art online, we realised the most powerful way to show cult status was to let the fans create our campaign. A call for #PeakysFanArt submissions led to over 1200 entries. 16 winners then became part of a national fan art exhibition. Our campaign captured imaginations and turned heads, racking up over 30m OOH impressions, making series 5 the most watched Peakys ever.
Snoop Shelby
There is no Peaky Blinders fan as iconic or unexpected as Snoop Dogg. The legendary rapper has been a diehard fan since the show’s very beginning, sharing his praise all over social media. To demonstrate the show’s fandom, we got Snoop to put a fresh spin on its infamous theme by Nick Cave, “Red Right Hand”. Snoop’s hip-hop reimagining of the Southern goth rock ballad sent the internet wild.
