Hasta La Creative!

When Major League Soccer began play in 1996, those of us who lived in New York City had only one team to root for—the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. But despite their odd hybrid name, they were pretty solidly a New Jersey team. They played out at Giants Stadium, and those of us coming from Manhattan would often arrive late to games, as they never scheduled enough buses from Port Authority. Intentional or not, the indifference to fans east of the Hudson was palpable. 

That franchise has since cleaned up its act, and become the formidable New York Red Bulls. They still play in Jersey, though, at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison (which is, admittedly, a lovely stadium). But luckily for New York City fans, there’s been another option over the past two seasons—New York City Football Club, a new MLS franchise that plays its home games at Yankee Stadium. 

NYCFC clinched its first-ever MLS Cup playoff berth this past weekend, and is celebrating with a gritty new spot from Johannes Leonardo, its first-ever brand commercial.

The poetic spot, called “Along These Lines,” is as much a tribute to the city as the team—rallying New Yorkers to get behind their soccer team, using a theme of connection that’s both literal (the subway system connects everyone, and of course stops at Yankee Stadium) and figurative.

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Here’s a fun if punishing way to get people to think about the ingredients in your beer.

Heineken, the official beer of the UEFA Champions League, with help from Publicis Italy, put up hundreds of outdoor ads around Milan recently featuring a gargantuan 100-character hashtag (that’s the most allowed by Twitter). People were encouraged to share the hashtag in social for a chance to win tickets for the UCL Final.

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Mother’s Day surprises were aplenty this weekend, including a big one for the U.S. women’s World Cup soccer team.

Due to their demanding schedules, it’s been years since many of the players have seen their moms on Mother’s Day. In a very sweet video uploaded to Facebook and YouTube by Fox Sports, the team sat down for a pre-game dinner, and their coach introduced special surprise guests—their moms.

The mother-daughter reunions are lovely to watch. Maybe even more remarkable is seeing the a second surprise happen—check out the video to see what it was.

“Abby’s been on this team for 14 years. For 14 years, I have not had you around for a Mother’s Day,” says Abby Wambach’s mom, Judy. The video cuts to the two of them standing side by side on the field.

The video closes with a request to “Cheer on our women this summer.” (Fox will be broadcasting the tournament across its networks, including 16 matches live on the flagship broadcast station.)

The team won the game 3-0 with their moms watching. Wambach scored career goals 179 and 180, and turned around after her second goal to point at her mom.

Heartwarming and inspiring all around.

Nike doesn’t want Brazil to linger on its loss in the World Cup. Instead, the brand’s new ad aimed is aimed at pumping up the passionate nation of sports fans for their next global event: the 2016 Olympics.

“Tomorrow Starts Now” is a beautiful tribute to the outstanding athleticism of a country whose chances at glory were abruptly and embarrassingly snuffed out by a 1-7 World Cup loss to Germany.

But instead of trying to tend the wounds of Brazil’s futebol fan base, Nike is instead looking ahead to the many events where the country is expected to do well when the world returns to Rio de Janeiro’s for the next Summer Games.

The spot from Wieden + Kennedy São Paulo is a solid minute packed with diverse talent like track athlete Ana Claudia Lemos, beach volleyball siblings Clara and Carol Salgado, basketball players Leandrinho and Anderson Varejão, and Yane Marquez, a bronze medalist in the modern pentathlon at the London Olympics.

As usual, Nike is on top of its game, finding those perfect moments that celebrate the unparalleled power of the world’s best athletes. It’s also a moving reminder that the soul of sport lies not in winning, but in the passion it takes to keep going after a defeat. You can make it, Brazil. You can get past this.

Animal rights activists are upset about, well, everything, but they’re especially mad about an Adidas World Cup campaign in which soccer players are holding bloody cow hearts.

The tagline for the ads featuring players from various nations is reportedly, “During the World Cup, I will give my heart to the cause.”

After the images were leaked on German forward Lukas Podolski’s Instagram account, they were quickly criticized by Four Paws, an animal rights group from his own country. “He says he’d give his heart but it wasn’t his heart was it?” a group spokesperson said in a statement to the media. “It was the heart of an innocent animal.”

Podolski has defended the creative, saying, “I don’t find [the ad] disgusting,” adding that “it just shows my promise to give my heart in our bid to win the World Cup.” Thanks for that keen observation, Lukas.

The brand’s social media channels have also been flooded with comments from disturbed fans. “Seems like Adidas’ campaign managers did not realize people actually do like animals and don’t want their hearts being cut out, dripping with blood,” noted one Facebook commenter.

What I don’t get is why they had to use real cow hearts in a photograph-based ad campaign when fake anything hearts would have worked just as well. Unless they were trying to rile up the animal rights crowd for publicity purposes, it just seems like wasted energy. If a giant glob of Gummi Bear is good enough for Daenerys Targaryen, it should be good enough for the World Cup.

Via New York Daily News.

Everything aligned for Major League Soccer to make deals with ESPN, Fox and Univision worth $90 million annually from 2015 to 2022.

Afin de faire la promotion des maillots des sélections de la Coupe du Monde de Football 2014, Nike Football dévoile une nouvelle campagne « Risk Everything », nous proposant de découvrir Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo & Wayne Rooney se préparant pour une expérience unique. Un spot réalisé par l’anglais Jonathan Glazer.

Le quotidien sportif L’Equipe a imaginé ce projet dédié au handisport Hors Normes. Parmi les actions, voici cette vidéo appelée Les Ombres réalisée avec l’agence DDB, et tournée avec des joueurs du club de cecifoot de Saint-Mandé. Il montre la concentration des joueurs et leurs capacités à se mouvoir et jouer sans voir.

Three soccer magazines, all fairly recent, attest to the growing embrace of soccer by Americans.

Process this: The "Intel Inside" logo has made its way inside the jerseys of Spanish soccer team FC Barcelona in a reported five-year, $25 million deal.

The emblem is visible only when players pull their shirts up over their heads, which they've been known to do when celebrating a goooaaal! Intel vp of sponsorship David Haroldsen says the placement "authentically tells the story of who we are rather than just being another brand that is visible with all the other logos that exist. We believed we would have more value with the symbolic placement with occasional pop-up moments within the game."

Fair enough. Cool concept. Still, I wonder … doesn't this send a tacit message that big corporate bucks are all that's "inside" these players, driving them like robots of commerce? Aren't champions supposed to be motivated by something more, like their fierce love of the game and burning desire to win? Doesn't that competitive heart, beating deep inside, truly make a great team tick?

And when Santa Claus comes to my house next week, will he bring the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy along for the ride?