ryan6/4/2010
And now for the official sponsor of the World Cup. Adidas.
Internally, we had some healthy debate on whether Nike's "Write the Future" ad was in fact Nike's "best ad ever." Some loved it (like myself), and some thought it was just a glitzy showpiece. For me, the best part is that Nike is not even the official sponsor of the 2010 World Cup. Adidas is. What could Adidas possibly do to top Nike's ad? Well, to start, they could cast Daft Punk, Snoop Dogg, David Beckham, and many others in a re-imagining of Star Wars. I'm guessing this is only a lead in to a series of "original" ads. Wow, I was not expecting this. For that, well done Adidas.
Weird. As much as I liked the individual pieces once upon a time — Star Wars, Daft Punk, Snoop, Oasis, and of course soccer (which is loosely tied in at best) — this is not the sum of its parts. It feels forced, has nothing to do with the World Cup, and is ultimately kind of boring. This video has a ton of views in just a couple days, so maybe the road to deliberately trying to create a viral ad is paved with a couple cool production tricks and an odd assortment of “celebrities” well past their prime (including soccer stars) in a storyline that has no relevance to what you’re selling.
Sometimes it’s not what you sell but how you sell it.
Okay, that was weak.
As a huge football (soccer) fan, I found the Nike Ad quite entertaining. Now as I reflect on the World Cup and look at the ad, none of the players featured had a good World Cup at all. It seems like Nike jinxed them into having an awful World Cup. It kind of reminds me of the Madden curse that many football players have the year after they are featured on the cover of the game.
If I was any football player and Nike wanted me to be in their next ad, I would run away…and fast!
