the world of advertising

//i’ve been wanting to put this up for so long! presented on this ad for my advertising individual presentation. i really love the whole campaign and hence, i’m going to share it here on this blog.

Who will you pick to be on your team?

Project name: Impossible Team
Brief: To communicate the idea of team and adidas’ brand attitude “Impossible is Nothing” in an inspirational way
Agency: 180 Amsterdam (180\TBWA)
Target audience: Soccer enthusiasts

“Impossible Team” is an integrated global advertising campaign including global and local versions for TV, cinema, print, outdoor, point-of-sale, public relations and on-line which kicked off on April 4, followed by a global roll-out leading to the FIFA World Cup. The campaign centres on the two 60-second films “Equipo” and “Partido”.

//i have the translation for the video. if you want it, email me! but since soccer is a universal language, you should be able to understand the ad. though, sadly, you won’t be able to appreciate the sly wit embedded in this wonderful tv campaign. also, previous adidas ads featured mainly on the sponsored soccer players. however, in this ad, the stars are actually jose and pedro (who actually represents the ‘ordinary people’). the stars are now the sidekicks! watch how jose and pedro boss the players around.

In “Equipo” (which means “The Team”), it shows how José and Pedro, two little Spanish-speaking kids, get to pick their own team. However, instead of picking kids from their local school or neighbourhood, Pedro and José get to pick their dream team consisting of international football stars from the past and present. Their impossible fantasy quickly turns into reality and José and Pedro’s teams are actually lining up. José and Pedro have picked their +10 and are getting ready to play the biggest game of their life…

Next on “Partido”, the teams of Pedro and José actually play against each other. Pedro and José are in control of the game and their team: Kaká gets sent off and Jermain Defoe is chosen to go in the goal, a role which he puts his heart and soul into, even if he only uses his legs. This execution celebrates the beauty of the actual game but also references the FIFA World Cup Final of ’66 in which England meets Germany. However, this time with Frank Lampard in the role of English “goal scorer” and Oliver Kahn defending the German goal.

what separates this adidas spot from all of the other ads during the World Cup season is the connection that adidas makes to the soccer world experienced by most of its fans – soccer as fantasy. adidas understands that soccer is about dreams for over a billion fans worldwide. it gives ordinary people, like you and me, an outlet for imagination. few of us will ever get to play in a World Cup and even fewer will become legends, but every single one of these boys and girls will be transported from the reality of their lives by the fantasy of the beautiful game. (the ad kept to the message and at the last scene of “Partido”, the camera pulls away from the field and the soccer stars are not on the field anymore.)

a quote from 180’s co-executive creative director Andy Fackrell explains the purpose of this campaign:

“The adidas commercial for the FIFA World Cup is based on our own childhood memory… After watching a football game, we used to run outside, recreate our own teams and re-play the match we had just seen. We tried to make every little kid’s dream come alive – getting to pick your own team and being able to choose from the world’s biggest football stars!”

adidas constantly updates their website, so i can’t find the link to the campaign website anymore. however, i do have some screenshots of the interactive website:

to end off, i’ll let you guys enjoy the audition clip for the 2 great stars, jose and pedro:

ain’t they cute? they are truly the stars of this ad!
 

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