Hasta La Creative!

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.

Sure, we could listen to pundits or statisticians to try to predict the outcome of the World Cup final on Sunday. They’ve got suits and numbers. But what they don’t have is a black cat.

Why listen to logic when there’s a feline (named Lucky, natch) who can—and will—tell you who will lose the World Cup. At least, that’s what Leo Burnett and Lapiz have cooked up for Allstate’s interactive World Cup campaign. Let’s not forget that Allstate is a fan of mayhem, and black cats, of course, are well-known harbingers of bad luck.

If you tweet the hashtag #EnviaMalaSuerte (translation: “Send bad luck”) with the name of the team you’d prefer to lose, some cat food will drop into that team’s bowl. On Sunday, before the game, during a live YouTube broadcast, Lucky will get to choose between the Argentina and Germany bowls. Whichever bowl Lucky chooses to nosh at—well, that team will not win the World Cup. Allegedly.

It’s a silly (and cute) campaign. Rooting for sports teams can bring out some odd behavior, so why not play with people’s fan rituals?

Production company Great Guns mixes molotov cocktails and soccer in their filmtrack for Santigold’s “Kicking Down Doors,” part of Pepsi’s Beats of the Beautiful Game visual album.

For Santigold’s filmtrack, director Andy Morahan was inspired by “The Christmas Truce,” a soccer-fueled temporary peace that took place between English and German forces on Christmas Day, 1915. “The English and German soldiers put down their guns and played some football in No Man’s Land,” explains Morahan. “I was thinking of a way to try and tell that story in a modern light. Obviously I didn’t have the budget for a war scene, but a riot was more reasonable as a severe stand-off between people. It’s showing football, and sport by extension, as this beacon for humanity.”

In the film, a riot breaks out, with molotov cocktail wielding forces squaring off against riot police. A group of boys falls asleep at the edge of the scene. When one of their balls makes its way into the heart of action, both sides throw down their arms and beginning playing an impromptu pickup game. It’s not a bad idea for a World Cup spot, but seems a bit stretched out as an over four minute music video — although you may feel differently if you actually enjoy the song.

Morahan filmed the scene in Kiev, which has seen its share of rioting in recent history, although he insists the location was chosen purely out of convenience. “I was in Prague and wanted to shoot it there but the budget wouldn’t fit, so we were only an hour flight from Kiev and I’d worked there before so knew some people there who could help me out,” he explains. “Really, it was just close by and it fit the budget.” Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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You may have heard there’s a little soccer game being played today. In honor of that game—USA versus Belgium, for those who have somehow avoided World Cup news (to which I ask, how?)—ESPN on Tuesday unleashed the new “I Believe” spot below.

If you need pumping up before the 4 p.m. kickoff—and shouting “USA! USA! USA!” in the mirror somehow isn’t enough—then checking it out. It has everything: slow-motion shots of players, close-ups of spit and snot and blood, enraged faces, the glory of vistory and the fear of defeat, all to the tune of an epic soundtrack.

To top it off, the in-house team at ESPN ended the spot by bringing back the “I Believe” chant. “The chant has caught fire in bars, fan clubs, public viewing events and social media and has become the unifying narrative for this U.S. World Cup journey,” said Seth Ader, senior director of sports marketing for ESPN.

Oh, and now that you’re pumped up and practically ready to explode, let’s put things in perspective: FiveThirtyEight says the USA has a 0.6 percent chance of winning the World Cup. Underdogs!

Just when you thought nothing interesting was going to come of the World Cup following that gut-wrenching tie against Portugal, we have a notable player accused of mastication.

During a game that pitted Uruguay against Italy, Luis Suarez (the gentleman seen checking his incisors above) got in a tangle with Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini (the other guy). And then, Suarez got the munchies and bit Chiellini. Thank God for Twitter, because some notable brands decided to have some fun at Suarez’s expense with hashtags, original thoughts, subtle product placement, and even a few sponsored tweets.

It was all in fun, of course, until Suarez got suspended for nine games and banned from “any football-related activity” for four months.

(more…)

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Life is good for Landon Donovan, even though he isn’t playing in the 2014 World Cup—at least according to this new ad for EA Sports.

Instead of participating in the world’s biggest sporting event, the U.S. soccer icon is rolling out of bed late in the morning and chilling in his terry cloth bathrobe, enjoying his morning coffee and playing as himself in the PlayStation 3’s 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil (where, apparently, it’s easier for him to score.)

The spot is a clever, topical and deftly executed take on U.S. coach Jürgen Klinsmann’s controversial decision not to bring Donovan with the national team to Brazil, a move that observers will continue to parse as the tournament unfolds.

Donovan’s self-deprecating performance in the ad is excellent, especially at the end of the clip, when a deadpan song about getting left behind turns out to be less morose than it seems.

But if he does start getting lonely, he can always go hang out with Beckham and Zidane in Adidas’ ad. Nike, though, probably wouldn’t like that much.

Don’t fake it—on or off the football field—says Durex.

The condom brand is hoping to capitalize on excitement around the World Cup—and particularly, the spectacular dives that players take while competing after barely getting touched—with a new #DontFakeIt campaign aimed at keeping consumers busy in the bedroom.

The goofy ad below shows soccer players who look like they’re from the local recreational league offering ridiculously melodramatic performances—trips, grimaces, flops. Naturally, it’s all in slow motion, and there is opera music playing in the background. It’s chuckle-worthy not only because it’s absurd, but because it’s not that far from the reality (though the stakes are considerably lower).

Durex also conducted a survey that found 40 percent of 2,000 men asked would turn down their partners in favor of watching a game, with many offering hackneyed excuses about not feeling well. The campaign’s tagline, though, obviously calls to mind a different kind of faking—one that Durex has opposed for some time. So, you know, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, don’t fake it.

It’s all reminiscent of Puma’s “Love or Football” work from a few years back, which offered a psychology study of hardcore Newcastle United fans to see whether they cared more about their wives and girlfriends, or their team. In that case, the women prevailed, slightly. That was club soccer, though.

Story Uk Ltd teamed up with production company th1ng to create a unique World Cup spot for Ardbeg Distillery’s new Ardbeg Auriverdes whiskey.

Directed by David Boni, in collaboration with animation director Shay Hamias, the spot celebrates both Islay, Scotland’s distinctive brand of “peat football” and Ardberg Distllery. Shot in black and white, the 75-second spot opens on an old photo of an Islay football team. One of the players steps out of the photograph, punts an old leather ball out of the frame, and starts a chain reaction that runs through the remainder of the ad. There’s been a barrage of soccer related advertising leading up to the World Cup, but this one stands out with a unique setting and approach. Stick with us after the jump for limited credits. continued…

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You can always count on McDonald’s for more modest World Cup advertising—simple stories about family and friends, not flashy spots with overpaid stars. Some of it can be hokey, though sometimes it captures little truths that are quietly sweet and evocative.

This spot from multicultural agency Alma zeroes in on a great cultural insight in the Mexican American community: what happens when a father and his friends still unequivocally support Mexico, while the son, as secretly as he can, roots for the U.S.

The ad was directed by Diego Luna, still perhaps best known as Gael García Bernal’s costar in 2001’s Y Tu Mamá También. The humor is broad, and the acting isn’t subtle, yet it’s one of those ads you can’t help but like. Shot in both English and Spanish, it breaks Thursday and will air in general market and Hispanic media throughout the World Cup.

Credits below.

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CREDITS
McDonald’s: Client
Alma: Creative Agency
Luis Miguel Messianu: Chief Creative Officer
Alvar Suñol: SVP Executive Creative Director
Jorge Murillo: Creative Director/Copywriter
Serge Castagna: Associate Creative Director/Art Director
Rodrigo Vargas: Executive Producer
Marta De Aguiar: Account Director
Ana Silva: Account Supervisor
Diego Luna: Director
Canana Films: Production House
2105 Editorial: Post Production House
Alejandro Santangelo: Editor
Personal Music: Music House
Co. 3: Color Correction

With only two days until the 2014 World Cup kicks off in Brazil, ESPN has released a revamped version of their “I Believe” spot (which we covered back in April) as a send off to the U.S. team.

The new spot, created in-house, augments the crowd chants of “I believe that we will win” from the original with celebrities — such as Kevin Costner, Ice Cube, Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Hamm, Jimmy Kimmel, and Andrew McCutchen — slowly working their way through the line. Unfortunately, the approach doesn’t really add any life to the blase anthem. If you’re a big fan of the team, you’re already excited for the World Cup to start. If not, ESPN’s latest spot won’t really do anything to entice you.

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