The new Grand National promo is nothing like you imagine it might be

When a promo advert for one of the world’s most famous horse races drops into my inbox I have certain preconceptions about what’s it’s going to look like – mainly close-ups of thundering hooves and gurning punters. It’s fair to say this Grand National spot from Channel 4’s 4Creative agency and Nexus directors Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes confounded all of my expectations.

The deliciously trippy, leftfield animation tells the story of a unicorn foal who has to overcome all the odds to prove its worth to its peers and become a force of nature. John Allison and Chris Bovill, heads of 4Creative, said: “People love the Grand National because even the outsider has a chance. We wanted to dramatise this whilst at the same time blowing the whistle on all the prejudiced unicorns out there.”

The fact it’s so far from a cliched horse racing advert is either a masterstroke or a massive risk, but it’s great to see a creative treatment that dares to stray so far from expectations.