Congratulations, Southampton Football Club, you’ve outdone everybody.
The club have produced an epic parody of Netflix documentary ‘Fyre’ to show off their new 2019-20 strips in: ‘Saynts: The Greatest Kit Launch That Never Happened’ – and it’s a touch of brilliance.
‘Saynts’ follows entrepreneur Mbilly McFarmer, who’s on a mission to host the first ever football kit launch on a desert island… because it’s never been done before.
Players Danny Ings, Maya Yoshida, Angus Gunn and Nathan Redmond, and Southampton Women’s captain Shelly Provan, all make cameos.
‘Saynts’ draws comparisons to ‘Fyre’ throughout from the use of quick flash-forwards, similar music and camera angles – as well as a ‘visionary’ who’s out of touch.
‘Fyre’ told the story of a doomed “exclusive music festival” which was supposed to take place on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma. The documentary showed the hype building up to the event, which social media influencers were paid to promote – but the shambolic organisation and lies about money ultimately lead to disaster.
After introducing himself as the CEO of ‘MM Media’ – or just “MMM” – McFarmer calls around some football clubs, including Portsmouth, before eventually getting through to Southampton.
McFarmer tries to speak to Ralph Hasenhuttl, but the Saints boss won’t take his calls, so he sets about calling players pretending to be him in order to get them on board.
After travelling down to the south coast and arranging a meeting with members of Southampton FC, McFarmer shows the team a trailer detailing his outrageous vision for a kit launch festival on an exotic island in the Solent.
The trailer showcases Saynts Festival in all its glory, with events including a free-kick masterclass with Prowsey (James Ward-Prowse), morning training sessions with Franny Benali, and Shane-Long Island iced teas on offer at the bar.
It also shows players in his vision of what the new kits will look like.
After the trailer cuts, Hasenhuttl is left questioning if the whole thing is a joke before calling security to escort McFarmer off the premises.
What he does reveal though, is he loved the kits… and that’s how it ends, the official 2019-20 kit is unveiled:
Before the kit launch video was released, players and the club had shared cryptic posts on social media about the made-up festival, just as social media influencers were paid to do in the lead up to Fyre Festival.
