Nike have a knack for coming up with some of the best football ads and capitalizing on (but also contributing to) the hype around the sport’s biggest event. With the start of the World Cup in Qatar just days away, they have released their newest campaign “the Footballverse”. How does it fare in comparison to other memorable ads?
“The Footballverse” (2022)
What’s great about this one is that it perfectly captures how fans talk and fantasize about football. Which generation of footballers is the best? Would 1998 Ronaldo beat 2002 Ronaldo? Questions we can only answer in our imaginations but expertly brought to life in this video. A much more exciting “virtual reality” than any “Metaverse”, don’t you think?…
“Write the Future” (2010)
The concept is simple enough, but the song choice is everything for this one in my opinion. When I hear Hocus Pocus by Focus now, I can’t help but think of bearded Wayne Rooney living in a trailer park frowning at a billboard of Franck Ribéry. The beard part at least, did come true!
Brazil at the Airport (1998)
World Cup 1998 was the first one I followed and this ad definitely tugs on the nostalgia heartstrings. A legendary Brazil team full of stars and a time football took itself a little less seriously.
“Vive le Football Libre” (2011)
Not a World Cup ad, but perhaps my all time favorite Football commercial. Following the disastrous 2010 World Cup, the French national team were in need of a complete reconstruction. A new coach, new players, a new brand. France dropped the Adidas stripes for the more tame and stylish Nike look. After the French team infamously refused to train before crashing out in South Africa, a return to elegance was needed.
Elegant like Céladon,
― Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac
Agile like Scaramouche,
I let you know, Dear Myrmidon
That at the end of the refrain, I hit.
Cyrano de Bergerac’s monologue (from the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand) perfectly matches the intrepidity of a fencing duel to footballers’ skills and tricks. In many ways the ad is about the old and the new. 19th century poetry is read by rapper Oxmo Poccino, while cameos from French stars are set side by side with shots of grassroots football.
Making ads can sometimes be an art. The combination of poetry, rap and Karl Jenkins’ Palladio as the epic background music was truly inspiring. I also consider this time as the moment the French team was reborn, which eventually led to their victory at the 2018 World Cup.