Nike is bringing their expertise to the international level with their latest advertisement, “Write The Future,” featuring football players from around the world. Wait? Football players…from around the world? But football is only played in America, right? Well, not exactly.
In case you haven’t heard, the 2010 FIFA World Cup is underway. Host nation South Africa landed this international Goliath, which has brought millions of fans to its cities. (It’s estimated that more than 715 million people watched the 2006 World Cup Final when Italy routed France in penalty kicks and billions watched the tournament as it progressed.) This brand of football also known as soccer just happens to be the most popular sport in the world. Do you see how Nike might be slightly interested in the marketing potential?
“Write the Future” is Nike’s epic three-minute television commercial, and it leaves the viewer floored. The commercial begins with Ivory Coast star Didier Drogba as he surgically slices and dices through defenders on his way to kicking what appears to be a surefire goal. You can feel the euphoria and intensity build as the whole continent of Africa holds its breath and the ball gracefully glides through the air towards the goal. But before paydirt, Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro intervenes with a Bruce Lee-style bicycle kick. From this point forward, more international soccer stars are displayed in very dramatic fashion, showing how their play in the World Cup is weaving the threads of their futures. English star Wayne Rooney sees two separate premonitions, each with interesting implications. In the first, Rooney makes a bad pass and his future crumbles to pieces. The English economy crashes, riots break out in the streets, and in the end he finds himself exiled to a trailer park in the shadow of a Nike billboard. But when shown recovering the ball gone wayward from his bad pass, he envisions a much brighter future as he is knighted by the queen, children all over England are named in his honor, and the stock market goes through the roof.
It’s an ad that makes you hold your breath. The fanatical passion of soccer fans around the world is projected by the frenetic changes of pace. It gives an epic aura to the World Cup that could convince even the least interested market–that’s right America, I’m talking about you–to fully embrace the international super-spectacle.
When I was growing up, every kid on my block wanted a pair of Air Jordans so we could be like Mike, who was then enjoying his best seasons. That little swoosh icon made any kid on the playground cool. And buying their wristbands in high school definitely made me a better football player. (Better looking at least, or so I thought.) I felt that buying Nike products involved far more than buying a pair of shorts or shoe–I felt that I was buying the Nike brand, a little swoosh that magically associated me with the exhilaration of playing and of watching great play. Who knows? Because of “Write the Future,” maybe one day American kids will be lining up to buy Nike soccer gear in the hope of dribbling like Ronaldino or torching down the pitch with the blazing speed of Christiano Ronaldo. And the crowd goes wild.
Kevin Westervelt, a student at the University of Richmond, is a summer intern with the Bergman Group.
