Enigma, one of Australia’s largest independent agencies, has launched a new campaign for SportsPick, Australia’s favourite in-venue live sports companion for pubs, clubs, and bars. The campaign urges Queenslanders to substitute the King’s Birthday public holiday on 7 October for ‘The Real King’s’ birthday – Wally Lewis – in December. The campaign cleverly leverages unused public holiday substitution entitlements.

Queenslanders can visit TheRealKing.com.au to request the substitution by entering their email and their boss’s email. A pre-populated email is prepared ready to send to their employer to petition them to make the swap. The campaign is being led by SportsPick, with support from rugby league icon Cameron Smith.

Matthew Dawe, Enigma Creative Director, expressed his thoughts on the campaign, “First, King Charles decided not to visit Queensland during his royal tour. And then he expects the state to take a day off and celebrate his birthday on a day that’s not even his birthday. It all just didn’t sit right with us. So, we figured, let’s give the day off to someone who truly deserves it – Wally Lewis, the real King of Queensland. He’s given us more reasons to celebrate than any distant royal, and it’s about time we made it official.”

‘The Real King’s Birthday’ Long Weekend will be celebrated from Saturday November 30 until Monday December 2nd. A select number of SportsPick venues will be transformed into official King’s Birthday party venues, with royal guests of honour and a party atmosphere all long weekend.

Mark Sturdy, Managing Director of Entain Venues and SportsPick spokesperson, said, “We’re loving how much excitement this has generated. Swapping the King’s Birthday for Wally’s has clearly resonated with Queenslanders. We’ve already heard HR departments are feeling the pressure with all the requests, so we’re sorry about that. But what better reason for the extra admin than celebrating the real King of Queensland?”

Wally Lewis himself was surprised and humbled by the campaign, “To be honest, when I first heard about the SportsPick campaign I thought it was Gene Miles playing another one of his pranks on me. To know that many Queenslanders are acknowledging me by asking their bosses to swap the public holiday next Monday to celebrate my birthday is very humbling. I’ve had many great birthdays over the years but this one certainly takes the cake.”