Stake and Bonnie Blue: the video that brought down the license and millions

Stake and Bonnie Blue: the video that brought down the license and millions

The story is so absurd that it looks more like a cursed sitcom script. And all this happened some six months ago.

The beginning of thrash

At Stake, one of the marketers decided that promoting a brand through a video with a actress was a good idea. Specifically, we are talking about Bonnie Blue, a person who is as scandalous as possible.

The result was predictably catastrophic: two weeks after the start of the campaign, the British regulator UKGC took away Stake's license to operate in the country. And with it - income and sponsorship contracts.

Who is Bonnie Blue

Her real name is Tia Emma Billinger. Reputation is one of the most odious figures in the industry of the XXI century. She was even kicked out of OnlyFans: according to the platform, she "went too far" when she tried to implement a marathon of 2000 partners in 24 hours.

This lady is banned from entering Australia and Fiji, and she earned fame with videos with a very young male audience - guys 18-19 years old.

Scandalous video

In December 2024, Bonnie recorded a provocative video at the gates of the University of Nottingham. She stated that she wanted to "have sex with first-year students who have barely reached the age of consent." The first thing the video did was appear on her OnlyFans.

And then the fatal thing happened: Stake took this video, stuck their logo and dispersed it through X with the help of warmed-up accounts.

Why did they do this?

Apparently, the logic was as follows:

• the video is provocative, which means it is guaranteed to fly into trends;

• young people are the main target audience of Stake, the match is perfect;

• before that, they had already put a logo on videos with a tough person, and nothing happened.

On paper, the strategy looked bold, but it worked. In fact, everything turned out to be a disaster.

How it all ended

The resonance turned out to be more powerful than expected. Complaints poured in packs, and the regulator instantly reacted: Stake lost its license in the UK.

In pursuit, the football clubs Everton, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City terminated their partnership with them.

The result is obvious: at some point, "black PR" stops working for the brand and turns into its gravedigger. Stake clearly slept through this moment.