We’ve had a shit world cup advert already, but Nike has come along with a good one to balance things out a bit.
There’s a full three-minute superstargasm version of Write The Future that’s a bit hard to swallow, and the ‘making of’ vid is like a parody of art-advert wank, but this little 30-second spot about a parallel universe version of Wayne Rooney is brilliant.
While the ad’s director can think of only ‘street-wise’ by way of praise for Rooney – and the making-of vid shows Rooney’s sole observation on the making of the ad to be that it was so cold he had to wear a coat – the sight of a hugely-bearded, down-at-heel Rooney genuinely amused me.
And the recollections of two trailer-park types on Wayne obsessively practicing the fateful move that resulted in his downfall over and over again, and the day Rooney emerged from his caravan to be faced with a huge picture of Franck Ribery, his nemesis in the ad, are spot-on too.
So, all very good. But rather similar to Reebok’s ‘Other careers’ spots well over a decade ago.
Those ads uncovered the hiterto undetected deadpan talents of Andy Cole, who might have turned out as a chip-shop attendant if he’s bought a packet of fireworks instead of a pair of Reebok footy boots.
Talent borrows etc.