GLOBAL – At the start of Cannes Lions week, the New York Times soccer blog Goal asked: could the Nike World Cup commercial be cursed? As the teams of the players appearing in the "Write the Future" spot suffered losses, pundits had a field day enumerating the curse’s: England’s Rooney, Italy’s Cannavaro, Ivory Coast’s Drogba, Portugal’s Ronaldo, Brazil’s Ronaldinho, France’s Ribery.
Not even Roger Federer, who plays table tennis with Rooney in the ad, was spared. The Swiss tennic ace suffered a stunning loss in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. The only athlete who completely escaped the curse is NBA Finals MVP Kobe Bryant, who led the L.A. Lakers to victory. (As of this writing, only Spain’s Fabregas, Iniesta, and Pique have a chance at the coveted gold trophy. Stay tuned.)
For advertisers, Nike’s unsuccessful prophecies have a chilling effect. But in a competition where only one team can win, a massive campaign hinged on the event’s outcomes can only miss the mark spectacularly. However, the timing of its launch softens the blow. The Facebook sensation is unlikely to turn off fans at this point. The glossy three-minute ad directed by the Mexican auteur Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu had a record-breaking 7.8 million views in the campaign’s first week, according to Ad Age–not bad for a brand that is not a FIFA World Cup 2010 official sponsor. So, would you rather be safe or viral?
[UPDATE] The curse has been broken with Spain’s winning streak. Congratulations to Spain and to Nike for emerging the victor among this year’s crop of World Cup ads.
