The recent promotional campaign by Liverpool Football Club and its global partner Cadbury has sparked significant online controversy, with fans accusing the multi-billion-pound entities of directly copying the creative blueprint of local Merseyside content creator Ryan Hall, also known as Still Ryan.
The campaign employs a highly specific street-style vox-pop setup in which participants sit on chairs in a public Liverpool location for an informal, unscripted interview.
The activation is a surprise community story about Billy, a Liverpool fan who suffered a brain injury in 2015 and has been unable to attend a Liverpool game since 2003.
Our partnership with @CadburyUK continues for another four years, and what better way to celebrate than rewarding generosity? ❤️
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 19, 2026
It was a pleasure to have you at Anfield on Sunday, Billy and Charlotte 🫶 pic.twitter.com/V2QyVZbP6R
His support worker explains how important community and small acts of kindness are to Billy, and Billy discusses his love for Liverpool. The interviewer then reveals that Cadbury, which is celebrating a new four-year partnership extension with Liverpool, would like to invite Billy and his support worker to Anfield.
What appears to be a routine interview about the meaning of community quickly transforms into a surprise invitation to return to a location Billy had not visited in over two decades. The emotional payoff occurs when Billy arrives at Anfield and is led onto the pitch, which he claims he never imagined would happen.
Instead of simply promoting the Cadbury-Liverpool partnership, the video incorporates Liverpool, community, kindness, and football nostalgia to create an emotional surprise.
While street interviews are an age-old media format, observers quickly noted that the exact visual language, conversational intimacy, and transition to a community-focused emotional payoff directly mirror Hall’s distinct style, which he has spent years developing across Merseyside through his signature “What Makes You Happy?” format and “Stilltalkingshow.”
This sparked outrage on social media, particularly among Everton FC supporters, who rushed to defend Hall due to his close ties to the blue half of the city.
Shite from the club this, @st1llryan grafted to get where he is doing things like this and a multi-billion pound company can’t be arsed to think of their own ideas and just rob his. Poor.
Infuriated fans criticized a massive global entity for being unable to formulate its own ideas and instead choosing to steal the ideas of a local independent creator who worked tirelessly for years to build his brand.
Ryan Hall responded directly and publicly to the uncanny structural similarity, expressing a profound mix of professional disappointment and campaign fatigue.
StillRyan, real name Ryan Hall, is a Liverpool-based football content creator and die-hard Everton fan known for his YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram videos.
He initially grew his audience through football and gaming content before expanding into in-person videos, street interviews, and social experimentation-style content.
His signature style entails approaching people and asking them unexpected, often personal or emotional questions, encouraging them to share stories about their lives rather than just talking football.
This interview-driven style has become one of his content’s defining features, alongside matchday videos, challenges, and football-related entertainment. He has since expanded the format with projects like his StillTalkingShow podcast/interview series, which delves into more personal conversations with various guests.
After seeing the new Liverpool video, which incorporated his style, Ryan posted in X, quoting Oscar Wilde’s famous adage:
Had a few messages over this. Oscar Wilde said “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” not much I can do but the people know ❤️ happy for the people involved!! Spreading positivity.
Hall also admitted to being disappointed when he first saw the advert. He emphasized that, while he has no ownership of public interviews and frequently sees others use the format, this particular campaign crossed the line from inspiration to direct duplication.
Was a bit guttered when I seen it to be honest. I see a lot of people doing it which is completely fine and I have 0 say on it but bar for bar is just lack of creativity and straight up low blow. Compliment in a way with the prime minister, now football clubs but just feels heavy…
— Stillryan (@st1llryan) August 19, 2026
Describing the replication of the exact location, setup, and concept as a low blow for him, as well as a lack of creativity on the part of Liverpool, Hall compared the corporate production’s lack of originality to a random football team arriving at Anfield, calling themselves Liverpool, and naming all of their players the same.
Despite his obvious frustration at seeing a format which was hard to create from the beginning with hardwork without change, he expressed no ill will toward the project’s participants, stating that he was genuinely happy for the ordinary people who benefited from the positive experience.
Nothing wrong with taking inspiration lad. That’s what being creative is all about. But that’s the exact same as a random football team showing up to anfield and calling themselves Liverpool and naming all their players the exact same as theirs 😂 being creative is about taking an idea and putting your spin on it. What’s happened here is an idea is taken and just been duplicated. Same location. Same concept. Not angry one but just disappointed It’s a wheel I fought hard to create brother ❤️ nothing negative towards it. Just not nice seeing a duplicate, nothing better than someone using an idea and making it better. In my tweet I wrote I am happy for the people sitting down, it’s positive!
However, the uproar sparked a larger online debate about content ownership and creative intent. A segment of users reacted to the strong backlash, questioning why the same location and presentation style should matter if the video’s ultimate message was simply to encourage people to be nicer, highlight community spirit, and spread positivity.
For everyone saying he didn’t invent sitting down and talking, yeah alright, but they’re using the exact frame-for-frame shot of Bold Street with the bombed-out church in the background.
At least go do it in front of ANY other Liverpool landmark.
Finally, while generic marketing tropes shield Liverpool FC and Cadbury from formal charges of intellectual theft, the decision to use the same esthetic as a prominent local rival creator ensures that the controversy remains a highly sensitive cultural flashpoint in the city.
