Today, Nike unveiled the big ad for the 2010 World Cup. It will premiere on TV this Saturday during the Champions League final. And it’s really cool.
Directed by Alejandro G Inarritu, who also directed “21 Grams” and “Babel,” the commercial takes us through those little moments that make the difference between the highest level of success and ending up fat, bearded and looking like Ricky Hatton.
The spot includes just about everyone — except Eric Cantona, unless someone can spot him — from Drogba, CRon, Rooney, Ribery and Cannavaro to Evra, Walcott, Landon, Timmay!, Cesc, Gael Garcia Bernal and Homer Simpson.
So click through and watch the 3 minute epic. As an added bonus, we’re expanding on an earlier post and including the best of Nike’s football ads through the years in a giant super-mega video post.
– Write Your Future, World Cup 2010: Nike and Ronal-D’oh!
– Samba-robics, World Cup 2010: An online-only side commercial with Ronnie. There’s also one with Rooney fat and eating baked beans. Nice.
– Passion, World Cup 2010: ESPN with a short, smart ad. Then we’ll get back to the Nike stuff.
– The Next Level, Euro 2008: This Guy Ritchie-directed ad is amazing.
– Joga Bonito, World Cup 2006: Cantona at his best, but the campaign was too long IMO.
– Airport, 1998: Brazil will always be Nike’s darlings.
– Ole Ole, 2004: This came out around Euro 2004 but included Brazil. Still a good ad.
– Thierry Henry’s House, 2004: Helen, the French man is out there again!
– The Secret Tournament, World Cup 2002: Terry Gilliam-directed ad is among my favorites ever.
– Samurais, Euro 2000: I love that Edgar Davids’ glasses are spy gear.
– Good v. Evil, 1997: This is the first big Nike ad I remember. Note the JVC shirt for Arsenal and how young Origi-naldo looks.
If this doesn’t get you in trouble at work, I don’t know what will. Enjoy!
People who do the song in the next level ad went to my highschool.
Hang about… the airport ad was late-90s, no?
Nice round-up. Just watched all of them in a row to kill the last 1/2 hour at work.
@tno: Eagles of Death Metal? You have a connection? Heh. Nice.
@JT: Correctly spotted. Originally in 1998. Version uploaded in 2006. Duh. Thanks.
damn those are all sick. the new one is just absolutely great though. rooney, fat, living in a trailer with a huge beard is just hilarious
Ya lead singer and guitarist, it was like 20 years before me though i think they graduated 88 or 89. They’re actually pretty good. In that ad people on youtube really believe that’s RvP
The fact that the guy in the ad is a right footed nike athelete makes that difficult to believe.
It’s obviously Dirk Kuyt as he is working so hard he throws up.
21 Grams is one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen. Naomi Watts’s nipples are terrifying. They’re like the stereo dial on my car.
I know I saw 21 Grams but I don’t remember any of it. Not even Naomi Watts’ boobs.
Also, notice how the white boy (and like Cannavaro can even run anymore) stops Drogba from scoring in the first bit? Nike is racist.
I could be remembering them from a different movie. All I distinctly remember about that movie is Del Toro’s Jesus-truck.
I think that was the movie that made me stop going to arty movies just because they were arty.
It kept me from seeing Babel.
Also I can’t stand Sean Penn so that didn’t help.
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.
@Georger: You suck on the stereo dial in your car?
Also, that ad, for some reason, made me want to see England fail. Well done, Nike.
You don’t? Ugh, degenerate.
I want georger’s car stereo model. I assume
it’s a Blaupunkt with two watts.
Bit of s football nerd moment. They are showing off the new violet and orange elite pack boot range. I’m suprised they used scarface being that he is on an Adidas team but they found a way around that by making their own Nike France jersey design. (which i like more than the Adidas tech fit one) and also if you want to see the ball that the EPL Serie A and La Liga are using next year, there you go.
@They also make Ivory Coast and Italy-style jerseys instead of Puma. That’s something different than in the past for Nike.
It’s great stuff in a lot of ways. They also get in the Portugal away (on CRon) and home (in the Simpsons bit) kit in the same ad. Well done.
And nice to get Kobe in the commercial in his Lakers uni without the adidas logo that goes with it.
This Inarritu guy makes a nice commercial, still, I wonder why he’s making feature length films about crappy Liverpool players?
I’m just mad that it happened to be the Blazers that Kobe was beating. Come on, Nike – both you and your ad agency are based in Oregon. Why you gotta be like that? That’s just adding insult to injury (and injury, and injury, and injury…)
Is this also the big Crew-Red Bulls Death Match open thread?
uhhhhh, yes!
Suck it, Spectator and Ian! 1-0 Crew.
Spectator will have to suck it at the stadium, Ian is crushed, and the rest of the crew is drinking. Meanwhile, I’m off to see Darlton’s talk with the NY Times. Nerds ho!
/shows self out
2-0 Crew through Iro.
Um, not sure if anyone is watching this halftime interview with Hirshey but he just made this awkward reference to Sampson dropping Harkes (for banging Wynalda’s wife) in ’98 with Harkes in the booth with him.
Oh that’s fantastic. Anybody have the skill/ability to pull that video?
Oh man, ESPN 3 doesn’t let you rewind in the current incarnation. I really do hope someone caught it.
I definitley saw it
@TFA: Not me–I barely have the ability to post a comment about it.
f**k–2-1 Crew. Poor from Hesmer who’s been shaky this year. Also, Harkes just made a Lionel Richie reference that was even more awkward than Hirshey’s.
Nice response from the Crew–Renteria’s first and it’s 3-1 Crew.
Final: 3-1 Crew.
@TNO-
I also know Jesse. We worked together about 15 years ago.
Just saw Columbus’ third. Comedy defending at its’ best.
Love the new ad. Classic! But after reviewing the spots over the years and despite Nike’s (obviously) large funding for all of this, it makes me somewhat proud that we, as fans, are an educated-enough consumer base that, in essence, demands this level of quality and plot in a commercial. I think about the oft-hyped (and incredibly overpriced) Superbowl commercials that are supposed to be the ad stuff of legend, and what does the rest of the world get yearly? Talking babies and dancing lizards. Poor bastards.
One other thing though – funny how Ronaldinho plays such a large part in a few of these spots – yet isn’t even on the WC team. Wonder if it came as a surprise to Nike or if it didn’t matter and they were still going to promote their guy. Maybe if Dunga saw the spots he’d change his mind…ah, the magic of editing….
@Mountain Wag
He’s still one of Nike’s biggest stars, so he kinda comes with the territory. They’ve sunk so much money into him that he has to feature, though I’m sure they didn’t foresee him missing the squad.
@JT – yeah, it makes sense they would include him (and although he physically looks like a Brazillian Mr. Ed, his skills seem as sharp as ever in the spots). His reaction in April was that the issues with the national team “weren’t his fault”…see where that got him. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/775070/ce/uk/?cc=5901&ver=us.
Ah, the 3rd person persona: “I can’t imagine a World Cup without Ronaldinho on the field. It seems impossible to me when I think of not playing.”