If you happened to catch the debut of Nike’s new soccer ad on Saturday during the UEFA Champions League game between Bayern Munich & Inter Milan then I thought the incredibly understated headline might get a brief laugh. It’s certainly better than that.
Truly more of a short film (3 minutes) than a commercial, director/producer Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (of "Amores Perros," "21 Grams," "Babel," and "Nine Lives") features some of the world’s best "footballers" including Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Ronaldinho, Landon Donovan, Franck Ribery, and Fabio Cannavaro in which each player envisions the consequences of their plays.
These visions run the gamut between success and failure and involve everything from the erection of honorary statues and having babies named after them to stock market crashes, becoming a groundskeeper and living in a trailer.
The ad represents an impressive amalgam of art, commerce and sport. A welcome combination considering that 95% of the time we’re watching television we’re being sold some sort of product. At least in this instance Nike has shown the ambition to sell something that’s wrapped in a far more intriguing package.
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