The "no compromise" campaign, which starts with TV advertising breaking today, features Cantona appearing to walk right through famous moments in sport such as Liverpool's comeback to win the Champions League final against AC Milan in 2005.
"Anything can happen in sport," says Cantona at the end of the TV ad. "The only certainty is you'll get all of Sky Sports on Sky."
As rivals including BT and Virgin Media aim to break Sky's stranglehold on football subscribers, following Ofcom's order in March that the latter had to drop the wholesale rate it sells Sky Sports 1 and 2 to rivals, the satellite broadcaster is aiming to position its overall sports offering as the best in the market.
"You'll only get all of Sky Sports with Sky," runs a voiceover, which ends by pointing out that Sky offers four sports channels as well as Sky Sports News, which is becoming a premium subscription channel like the other Sky Sports services.
BSkyB's campaign comes weeks after BT launched a major TV and print campaign featuring footballers including Michael Owen and the actor Kris Marshall, who stars in the regular "BT Family" ads, offering Sky Sports 1 and 2 at a steep discount.
Sky's TV campaign, which will run across the channels including ITV1 and Channel 4, will be supported by a large-scale campaign of press, billboard and digital advertising from 19 July.
Four billboards attempt to drive home Sky's superiority over rivals with big pictures of Cantona and lines including "The unmissable should be just that", "Compromise is not an option" and "What's the point of greatness if you cannot watch it?"
"[Fans] don't want to miss a moment of the sports they love, which is why we believe customers will respond to the authenticity of Sky Sports, a brand which has won the trust of sports fans following over two decades of ground-breaking coverage," said David Murdin, Sky's director of marketing for sport and news.
For more information please visit:
The Sat and PC Guy - Digital Satellite and Terrestrial Installations and Maintenance for the Costa Blanca
or the forum
The Sat and PC Guy FORUM - Digital Satellite and Terrestrial Installations and Maintenance for the Costa Blanca
