Nike is the GOAT when it comes to creating the perfect advertisements. And that’s simply not up for debate.
The brand stepped into the arena of creating stellar advertisements for its football products in 1996 with the Good vs. Evil campaign featuring legends like Cantona and Maldini, and has since, only dominated the ad space in the football world.
But, the last time Nike dropped a World Cup advert starring football’s present-day greats was in 2014, with the Winner Stays On campaign. And that really set the bar for football ads higher than ever before.
8 years is a really long time. But Nike’s latest ad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup has been worth the wait.
To begin with, the ad itself is titled “The Footballverse” or the “GOAT Experiment” And it’s exactly what comes to your mind when you hear it.
Nike collates the multiple timelines of football and the GOATs from the past, present, and future, to create one phantasmic experience for football fans all over the world.
Spread over roughly four and a half minutes, the Swoosh manages to keep you hooked with scenes that you’d only dream of.
Now, it’s difficult to imagine a Nike advert without screen time dedicated to Ronaldo. And while you do get plenty of Ronaldo screen time, it’s not limited to the Ronaldo you expect.
The ad actually shows the 02’ Ronaldo Nazario, with the absurd partial haircut, pitted against the OG 98’ Ronaldo.
The chaos in the ad is so infectious that when Alex Blaze, from Inazuma Eleven, fires a kick, you can’t help but believe that the anime character is in his rightful place in the video.
Phil Foden emptying a jar of tea onto the table is a hilarious twist in a football multiverse where teleportation seems to be a real thing.
But, Van Dijk defending against Ronaldinho using the legend’s own move and leaving him confounded is absolutely iconic.
The 17-numbered Cristiano Ronaldo also manages to grab a piece of the action with an assist for a CR7 scissor kick, followed by a “Siuuuuu” celebration by the Cristiano’s of the past and the present.
Ronaldinho battling Mbappe, CR17 performing a “Siu” celebration with CR7, Alex Morgan sipping on an imaginary cup of tea after scoring a goal, Virgil van Dijk defending (successfully) against Ronaldinho, present-day Ronaldo sharing a screen with 98’ and 02’ Ronaldo’s, and Alex Blaze from Inazuma Eleven, walking off the field after getting a red card.
The Ronaldo tripleception
The ad thinks of everything that the footballing community could dream of in their wildest dreams and gives you an opportunity to actually see it by integrating some of the best animation software with live-motion videography.
Nike has outdone itself by creating one of the finest FIFA World Cup adverts of all time. And fans across the globe agree.
The perfect merger of the past, present, and future is delightful. Ronaldinho, representing the golden era of football and Mbappe, representing today’s football on the same pitch?
That’s got to be the fantasy of every footballer in the world.
