by Helen Langdon
So we’ve looked at the UK adverts for the World Cup – but we started the World Cup with a lot more countries, and they’ve also got loads of good and bad adverts going on.
So we’ve looked at the UK adverts for the World Cup – but we started the World Cup with a lot more countries, and they’ve also got loads of good and bad adverts going on.
Kia – Football vs Futbol
Kia are one of FIFA’s official partners, so they’re one of the few brands actually allowed to mention the World Cup in their advertising. But their advert, aimed at American audiences, doesn’t really have much to do with football (or cars). Instead, a Brazilian supermodel walks up to a group of men while wearing a small dress and high heels, before taking a frankly unlikely shot at the ball which ends up in one of the leering men’s hands.
Score: 1. Yes, there is football in the advert, but it fails as a basic advert for Kia cars. Also, this is one of the more sexist adverts of this tournament. This isn’t an ad for female viewers, because apparently men are most swayed into watching football by a beautiful woman in impractical clothing (seriously, those stilettos would have sunk straight into that grass).
Kia are one of FIFA’s official partners, so they’re one of the few brands actually allowed to mention the World Cup in their advertising. But their advert, aimed at American audiences, doesn’t really have much to do with football (or cars). Instead, a Brazilian supermodel walks up to a group of men while wearing a small dress and high heels, before taking a frankly unlikely shot at the ball which ends up in one of the leering men’s hands.
Score: 1. Yes, there is football in the advert, but it fails as a basic advert for Kia cars. Also, this is one of the more sexist adverts of this tournament. This isn’t an ad for female viewers, because apparently men are most swayed into watching football by a beautiful woman in impractical clothing (seriously, those stilettos would have sunk straight into that grass).
Beats by Dre – The Game Before The Game
For the price that Beats by Dre charge, you’d expect the headphones to deliver sound directly to your brain, bypassing your ears entirely. They can also power young Brazilian players by the power of sound, apparently.
Score: 3. Neymar is a great young player, and it all seems very inspiring. You’re supposed to get pumped while listening to the music. But contrasting the pictures of footballers wearing £170 headphones with children growing up in favelas, in a country nearly bankrupted by spending money on major sporting tournaments instead of its people.
For the price that Beats by Dre charge, you’d expect the headphones to deliver sound directly to your brain, bypassing your ears entirely. They can also power young Brazilian players by the power of sound, apparently.
Score: 3. Neymar is a great young player, and it all seems very inspiring. You’re supposed to get pumped while listening to the music. But contrasting the pictures of footballers wearing £170 headphones with children growing up in favelas, in a country nearly bankrupted by spending money on major sporting tournaments instead of its people.
Bank of Chile – Mineros: Apoyo Selección camino al Mundial 2014
This is a Spanish-language advert, but the buzz around it sees it as one of the most moving adverts of this World Cup. It features the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped in 2010 for 69 days. It’s an advert that mixes stirring music with footage of the miners and the national football team, with the miners declaring that “nothing is impossible for a Chilean”, and that they’ve stared death in the face, so the Group of Death doesn’t scare them.
Score: 6. It’s very inspiring, yes. But then it feels slightly cynical to have a bank exploiting the idea of Chilean heroism for an advert.
This is a Spanish-language advert, but the buzz around it sees it as one of the most moving adverts of this World Cup. It features the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped in 2010 for 69 days. It’s an advert that mixes stirring music with footage of the miners and the national football team, with the miners declaring that “nothing is impossible for a Chilean”, and that they’ve stared death in the face, so the Group of Death doesn’t scare them.
Score: 6. It’s very inspiring, yes. But then it feels slightly cynical to have a bank exploiting the idea of Chilean heroism for an advert.
Puma – El Fantasma del 50
This advert, to the untrained viewer, doesn’t have much to do with Puma or football, barring the phantom’s entry into a stadium right at the end of the advert. It’s a reference to the World Cup upset of 1950, where Uruguay beat Brazil in the final match of the round robin stage to decide the champion. It was a major upset, and here it was used to launch the new Uruguay kit.
Score: 7. It’s a good ad, referencing the past and cheekily hoping for another upset in the future. It wasn’t a prophetic advert, although it’s fun to wonder just how many Uruguayan football adverts will go on to feature Luis Suarez’s teeth.
This advert, to the untrained viewer, doesn’t have much to do with Puma or football, barring the phantom’s entry into a stadium right at the end of the advert. It’s a reference to the World Cup upset of 1950, where Uruguay beat Brazil in the final match of the round robin stage to decide the champion. It was a major upset, and here it was used to launch the new Uruguay kit.
Score: 7. It’s a good ad, referencing the past and cheekily hoping for another upset in the future. It wasn’t a prophetic advert, although it’s fun to wonder just how many Uruguayan football adverts will go on to feature Luis Suarez’s teeth.
McDonald’s – Gol!
McDonald’s have a history of using young footballers doing tricks (see the 1994 ad featuring a young Scott Parker) to sell their products at World Cup time. But here it’s not just boys – it’s boys, men, old men, and even a woman!
Score: 8. McDonald’s have no right doing an advert this good. A McDonald’s meal might be antithetical to the idea of athleticism, but they get so many points for being one of the miniscule number of advertisers to acknowledge the fact that women can enjoy and play football.
McDonald’s have a history of using young footballers doing tricks (see the 1994 ad featuring a young Scott Parker) to sell their products at World Cup time. But here it’s not just boys – it’s boys, men, old men, and even a woman!
Score: 8. McDonald’s have no right doing an advert this good. A McDonald’s meal might be antithetical to the idea of athleticism, but they get so many points for being one of the miniscule number of advertisers to acknowledge the fact that women can enjoy and play football.
Heinken – Met Heineken vier je de Oranjekoorts!
Oranjekoorts is Orange Fever, the national craziness that manifests in the Netherlands during sporting events and days of national significance. It goes beyond just painting your face in your country’s flag. And this advert mirrors the scenes that will probably take place if the Netherlands get to the final again.
Score: 8. It works to sell the product, it’s a wonderful little burst of celebration, and where else would you see a Dennis Bergkamp version of Christ the Redeemer?
Oranjekoorts is Orange Fever, the national craziness that manifests in the Netherlands during sporting events and days of national significance. It goes beyond just painting your face in your country’s flag. And this advert mirrors the scenes that will probably take place if the Netherlands get to the final again.
Score: 8. It works to sell the product, it’s a wonderful little burst of celebration, and where else would you see a Dennis Bergkamp version of Christ the Redeemer?
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