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Southampton FC release new kit with Fyre Festival-style mockumentary

Danny Ings, Nathan Redmond and Ralph Hasenhuttl all star in the film.

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Southampton FC have released their new kit for next season with a mockumentary which appears to take inspiration from Netflix’s Fyre Festival documentary.

The Netflix show tracked the failed creation of a luxury music festival and Southampton’s kit launch sees a character called Mbilly McFarmer embark on a faux adventure to create Saynts Festival – a proposed kit launch on an exotic island in the Solent.

The jokey video stars players such as Danny Ings, Nathan Redmond and Angus Gunn and manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.

Before the kit launch was released, players and the club had shared cryptic posts on social media about the made-up festival.

To apparently make up for the fact the festival on an island in the Solent will not be going ahead, Southampton have decided to host an event at their St Mary’s Stadium in the theme of the festival.

Charlie Read, head of brand and marketing at Southampton FC, said: “The launch of a new kit is always a highlight moment of the year for fans and players alike.

“While Mbilly wasn’t able to sell in his ludicrous Saynts Festival pipedream, the club still wanted to create something unique to celebrate the launch of the new kits and give something back to our fans, which is why we will be hosting our own fan event at St Mary’s on Saturday 29th June.”

Southampton's new kit
(Southampton FC)

Reaction to the campaign has been mixed on Twitter.

Many were positive, commending Southampton’s “awesome” media team.

But others were less convinced.

One user, who admittedly appeared to be a Spurs fan used a clip of the Saints manager from the video to share their thoughts.

“What was that?” Hassenhutl says.

And some appeared to be more convinced by the video than the new kit itself.

User @PepsiFIFA12 tweeted: “When you spend too much money on the launch vid and have nothing left for the actual kits…”

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