Newcastle United main sponsor Sela resurrect classic banner as part of genius viral marketing

Since the start of the 2023/24 season, Saudi Arabia-based events company Sela have been Newcastle United's front-of-shirt sponsor and as part of that partnership have done some pretty spectacular things already.

The company created the Sela Cup - a pre-season event spanning two consecutive days at St James' Park. They were instrumental in the creation of the soon-to-be-opened Fan Zone and of course there was the drone display to mark Newcastle's return to the Champions League to name a few.

Last night, their streak continued as they called back to an iconic banner that was first seen in Monaco in 1997 as Kenny Dalglish's Newcastle took on a Monaco side that boasted a certain Thierry Henry in their lineup in the UEFA Cup. It was a tough night for the Magpies as both Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand were out injured leaving Dalglish to play midfielder Rob Lee up front on his own.

Unsurprisingly, Newcastle were beaten on the night, 1-0 but somewhere in the crowd a meme was born - before memes were even a thing. With a captive audience of millionaires in the French principality, a quick-thinking fan took the opportunity to try to sell their BMX for "42 kwid o.n.o."

Wor Flags recreated the banner for the FA Cup tie against Cambridge

The famous banner was resurrected by Wor Flags in 2022 when Cambridge United came to town in the FA Cup on a night that should be forgotten from a football perspective, but remembered for that banner alone.

It likely went over a lot of people's heads but if you make a noise when you stand up, you'll likely remember it from the first time around.

Well, it's back and it's bigger than ever as it appeared projected onto the Baltic with one minor change.

Get on the blower to buy the BMX

This time the banner has a different phone number, and if you ring it you hear a message.

It's a genius piece of marketing by Sela who have used it to advertise an event which is set to take place at the Baltic on Saturday.

Trust us, it's worth giving the phone number a ring to hear the message. The event details are minimal, only that you should get yourself to the quayside opposite the Baltic for a celebration of Newcastle and Newcastle United at 10pm on Saturday night.