Nike vs. Adidas

The Nike and Adidas football ads that run during the World Cup are great. I love them. Nike has dibs on the Brazilian stars but who needs them? I personally love the one from Adidas, "The Impossible Team" featuring the world’s best footballers from past and present. Anybody watching any of the World Cup knows this commercial by now (or at least snippets of). Just in case you don't speak Spanish here are José and Pedro’s teams:

José’s team: Michael Ballack Germany, FC Bayern Munich Franz Beckenbauer Germany David Beckham England, Real Madrid CF Du-Ri Cha Korea Republic, Eintracht Frankfurt Damian Duff Ireland, Chelsea FC Steven Gerrard England, Liverpool FC Kaká Brazil, AC Milan Oliver Kahn Germany, FC Bayern Munich Juan Román Riquelme Argentina, Villarreal CF Bastian Schweinsteiger Germany, FC Bayern Munich Patrick Vieira France, Juventus Turin

Pedro’s team: Djibril Cissé France, Liverpool FC Jermain Defoe England, Tottenham Hotspur Kevin Kuranyi Germany, FC Schalke Frank Lampard England, Chelsea FC Michel Platini France Shunsuke Nakamura Japan, Celtic Glasgow Alessandro Nesta Italy, AC Milan Lukas Podolski Germany, FC Köln Raúl Spain, Real Madrid CF Arjen Robben The Netherlands, Chelsea FC David Trézéguet France, Juventus Zinédine Zidane France, Real Madrid CF

And here's the commercial thanks to youTube...

Video Clip: Adidas Football - “Equipo” 60’

“Partido” 60’:

“Partido” is the second commercial in the TV campaign. In “Partido” the teams of Pedro and José actually play 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. I read somewhere that this one 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. Personally I don't recall that particular match.

Video Clip: Adidas Football - “Partido” 60’

Now as you guessed it the latest to stir up controversy is the Nike ad with England's Wayne Rooney (see photo at the top of this blog). Kinda reminds me of the movie Carrie when Sissy Spacek had all that pig's blood dumped on her only Rooney looks happy about it. And why wouldn't he be? ("cha-ching")




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