A
typical football fan is probably following pages of their idols,
watching all their games, watch matches live if he/she got a chance,
and collect memorabilia featuring the player. On the other hand, a
company will invest on that bankable player to increase its sales.
Adidas seems to have gotten it all wrong though in their latest
advertisement featuring Barcelona and Argentina football superstar
Lionel Messi.
In
their bold campaign, the American apparel brand is encouraging fans
to unfollow Lionel Messi. The one minute video features footage of
Lionel Messi's plays and encounters with the world's most influential
people. It also enumerates his awards. This while voice in the
background tag him as “my idol”and “my hero”. At the end of
the video, the voice over said:
“I've
always wanted to be like you . . but I am not you.”
“I
want to see what the world thinks of me and what I can create.”
This
is really a courageous marketing campaign from Adidas. According to
Lia Stierwalt, senior director of global communications and media,
the Lionel Messi advertisement is meant to inspire people in the
world to embrace their own strength and dreams.
"We
live in a world where typically athletes are told to follow or
emulate their heroes," Stierwalt said. "We want to inspire
creators to defy the norm of sports today, so they can focus on
shaping their own reality and ultimately create their own game."
"In
terms of marketing [championing young players' skills over star
athletes'], that's a topic that's skirted by these companies, because
no one wants to upset their athletes," said Glenn Cole, chief
creative officer of 72andSunny in Los Angeles. "By saying we're
promoting and sponsoring you, but now we're going to tell everyone to
'unfollow' you ... I think it's brave of them and the athletes
involved to be willing to go there."
Watch
Lionel Messi Adidas ad below:
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