- Adidas underlines its commitment to the game of soccer in two dramatic new commercials supporting its sponsorship of the 1998 World Cup.
The films, "the match" and "after", are both shot in black and white and are backed by a remixed version of the Massive Attack track "angler", which will feature on the band's soon-to-be released CD. The films use the endline "soccer re-invented".
"The match" showcases four key Adidas-sponsored players who will take pivotal roles in the World Cup -- David Beckham Alessandro Del Piero, Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Kluivert -- who are featured in a stylised training environment preparing for the tournament. For example, in one scene, Del Piero walks past a massive concrete wall studded with pairs of football boots. He takes a pair from a slot emblazoned with his name. The film ends with a shot of Zidane standing in the middle of the vast Stade de France stadium, the venue for the highlights of the tournament.
The male voiceover, which runs across the second half off the ad, proclaims: "seven hundred of the world's best players, a ball that is faster and truer, boots that make those players even more powerful. World Cup 98. It's about those who love the game enough to do something about it."
The second film, "after", aims to highlight Adidas's on-going pledge to the game. The film opens post-World Cup with a shot of the tunnel leading to the now deserted stadium. The voiceover announces: "Long after the fans and players have gone home, the four billion TV watchers have switched off and all the others have taken their billboards down, one company will still be there, pushing to make a ball go even faster, boots that make players even more powerful. Because to us each World Cup is a signpost not a destination."
The ads were written at Leagas Delaney by Tim Delaney, the agency's executive creative director, and art directed by Warren Eakins. They were directed by Mehdi Norowzian through Joy Films.
Delaney said: "Once again Adidas is emphasising the difference between it and other sports marketers by showing what it's done for the sport."
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