Cantona and Showmax hijack Premier League preview

Premier League fans around Africa tuned in to watch the Matchday Live preview of the opening game of the season were startled by the antics of footballing legend Eric Cantona.

As hosts Julia Stuart and Owen Hargreaves tried to interview the notorious former Manchester United captain, Cantona refused to play ball, behaving as if he had no interest in the proceedings. Then, suddenly, the Frenchman stormed off the set and addressed the camera directly, declaring, “The revolution will not be televised; the revolution will be live!” 

At 5:30 minutes into the clip, it is revealed that Cantona had colluded with streaming platform Showmax to talk about its Premier League mobile subscription.  

The stunt drove big results, with #EricCantona trending across the globe, and #ShowmaxPL and the campaign hashtag #ForEveryoneEverywhere trending on X (Twitter) for hours in South Africa as well as in Kenya.  

“The stunt drove more than R35-million in PR value and was mentioned more than 27,000 times on social media,” says chief marketing officer Yatish Narsi. 

Showmax Premier League ambassador Robert Marawa shared a behind-the-scenes clip of the filming of the stunt on his X profile.

Meanwhile, Fans took to X to express shock, surprise and then delight: 

“Tell me I’m NOT the only one seeing this…“

“They got us bra Rob…..get on a call with @JuliaStuart_SA

I want my heart back. That was some high level TV  that’s how you make an entrance.”

“Julia What Happened With Eric Cantona?”

Julia Stuart didn’t know how to react when Eric Cantona stood up to talk to the camera  #ShowmaxPL #ForEveryoneEverywhere

If unserious was a person, it would be Eric Cantona because yini le?

#ShowmaxPL #ForEveryoneEverywhere

We need to check if Eric Cantona is okay, bro was having having nightmares before going to bed.. 

@ShowmaxSport what just happened?   #ShowmaxPL #ForEveryoneEverywhere

Someone tell Showmax they did a brilliant job with Eric Cantona 

When a legend speaks, we listen… even if it’s just a stunt.  Cantona’s message was clear: the beautiful game belongs to everyone, everywhere. #ShowmaxPL #ForEveryoneEverywhere

Says Narsi: “For R69 per month (R34 per month if you’re a Capitec Bank customer), hundreds of millions of people will finally be able to consume the greatest football league on the planet, for a fraction of what it costs to attend a live match in England while cheering on super-star African players, in real time.”