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Do not ask Bill Belichick about keto options for a game-day spread or how to cook burgers when he’s hankering for wings. And whatever you do, don’t try to recruit him for your fantasy football league—he will crush you with a stone-cold stare and a soul-withering quip.
Belichick, former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champ, brings his trademark suffer-no-fools persona to a subtly hilarious DoorDash campaign called “Fan Coach,” which touts the start of football-watching season and the food that fuels it.
In a series of ads that will run across TV, social, and digital channels, Belichick holds faux press conferences—some from his living room sofa—and dispenses advice to diehard fans on topics such as how to rally the home crowd at halftime.
“You could say, ‘Let’s party,’” Belichick says in one video, bobbing almost imperceptibly in his seat—his version of a touchdown dance?—and calling back to a classic meme.
DoorDash and its in-house agency, Superette, gave the legendary coach room to add his own touches and make tweaks to the creative so that it would fit his outwardly crusty demeanor.
“Authenticity was important for both sides,” Renaldo Chapman, vice president, brand and creative at DoorDash, told ADWEEK. “We weren’t coming to Bill expecting him to be something he isn’t, and I think consumers are going to appreciate how much of his personality he allowed to come out in the work.”
For the uninitiated, Sports Illustrated has called Belichick “a scholar of history and a cutter of sleeves,” as well as “a collector of rings, schematic genius, mentor of Tom Brady, and conductor of the most successful sports franchise this century.”
In the meantime, Tom Brady Sr., father of the quarterback legend, reflecting a common perception, has said that Belichick’s “interpersonal skills are horrible.” Serious National Football League fans may consider the coach polarizing, but many probably split the difference between the glowing and the scathing critiques.
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The DoorDash partnership is unusual for Belichick, who rarely does endorsements. There was a 2020 campaign for Subway, but otherwise, his commercial CV is filled mostly with clip-driven montages for NFL TV.