Ted Lasso Believes in Social Media

Ted Lasso isn’t a real person. Just don’t tell his 435,000 Twitter followers.

The eponymous character stars in AppleTV+’s feel-good comedy, which has scored rave reviews as it heads toward its second season finale.

Jason Sudeikis plays Lasso, as a Kansas City college football coach who’s recruited to coach the other kind of football in the UK after his dance moves go viral. Part fish (and chips) out of water comedy, part inspiring sports yarn, the show’s origins actually date back to a series of NBC promos for its Premier soccer league coverage.

After those promos, Sudeikis started shopping the character and concept around as a TV show, and AppleTV+ picked it up.  

Lasso’s unwavering optimism and belief in his team and colleagues are the heart of the show. It’s been welcomed as an uplifting antidote to the variants and extreme weather events taking up too much of our collective headspace.

Promoting a Persona

AppleTV+ has taken some smart steps to bring that enthusiasm outside the confines of the half-hour show by blurring the lines between reality and the world of Ted Lasso.

Marketing efforts like promotional emails are written as if they’re from Lasso himself. He’s a literal brand persona that gets people excited to spend more time with the AFC Richmond gang.

This tactic plays out best on social media. Many characters on the show have active (and verified) social accounts. Ted Lasso the fictional character has more than four times as many Twitter followers as Sudeikis the real-life actor.

The characters often comment on and share each other’s posts, creating a more robust social media presence without needing to rely on real-world engagement.

B2B brands don’t need to create fictional characters and sign them up for Twitter. But Ted Lasso shows the power of social engagement beyond a static content calendar.