For the uninitiated, poetry is a hard sell on any day of the week.
But if there's one thing a good advertising agency loves, it's a challenge. And for Canberra-based outfit The Mark Agency, bringing poetry onto the football field was a cakewalk.
At least, that's how it looked when the team aced the competition on this week's edition of Gruen on ABC.
Each week, the television show examines the world of advertising, and challenges different agencies to meet a difficult advertising brief with a creative pitch.
This week, the brief was all about football ... and poetry; agencies were tasked with selling Australia a Poetry State of Origin.
The Mark Agency's winning campaign challenged the notion that poetry belongs only in books, revealing that "State of Origin has always been full of metaphor, repetition, symbolism and storytelling".
The field is filled, in fact, with metaphor, repetition, symbolism and storytelling. Using iconic moments captured on screen, the pitch culminated in the launch of a fictional national poetry competition where "the only things getting tacked are complex literary themes".
The judges ate it up, and The Mark Agency secured their second Gruen win. Managing director Tristan Maddigan said the brief had been surprisingly joyful, and the team immediately saw a way through to the judges' hearts.
"This was one of those rare briefs that immediately made us smile," he said.
"Rugby league and poetry seem worlds apart, but once we started digging into Origin's greatest moments, we realised the game has always spoken in verse. Every chant, every sledge, every famous call carries the rhythm and emotion of great poetry.
"It's an idea that felt uniquely Australian, and we're incredibly proud it resonated with the panel."
