Brazil and Ronaldo head list of top 5 World Cup adverts
Published:The World Cup may not have yet kicked off but Samba fever is already sweeping the nation, helped by a plethora of football-themed television adverts both good and bad.
While the likes of Nike, Pepsi and Adidas are out to impress once again, we’ve decided to continue our build up to the finals with a top five of the best ever adverts surrounding the famous FIFA tournament. Tune in and enjoy!
Jungle World Cup injustice – Coco Pops 1994
Italy must have felt low after losing the 1994 World Cup final, but spare a thought for Amazon Forest. They had raced into a seemingly unassailable 10-0 lead over Coco United in a scoreline that must have had the assembled team of crocodiles believing the Jungle World Cup was theirs.
Coco the monkey had other ideas though, channelling Rafa Benitez with a half-time team talk that saw him audaciously fill the trophy with Coco Pops and milk, before getting the television cameras to broadcast images of the cereal-filled silverware on the big screen for his players to enjoy.
It did the trick, as a kangaroo penalty, giraffe header and hippopotamus thunderbolt helped them on their way to an 11-10 turnaround. Roy Hodgson take note.
Ronaldo and Brazil at the airport – Nike 1998
Back in 1998, Brazil were the undisputed kings of cool when it came to all matters football. World Cup holders and boasting a team that had the likes of Romario, Bebeto, Denilson and free-kick-missile-specialist Roberto Carlos in their pomp, the main draw remained the original Ronaldo himself.
This ad saw the striker take centre stage in an airport kick-about that even featured a cameo from Eric Cantona. There was a sense of foreboding about the conclusion though, with Ronaldo failing to find the net when it mattered most in the ad – much like in the 3-0 loss to France in the final.
Beckham takes on a sumo team – Pepsi 2002
Pepsi aren’t ones for subtlety when it comes to advertising during the World Cup, so when it came time to put together a star-studded advert for the 2002 finals in Japan and South Korea, there was really only one option for them – a sumo wrestler five-a-side team.
The advert again served as an unheeded warning to France who went on to crash out after defeats to minnows Senegal. In this instance a team featuring David Beckham, Emmanuel Petit, Raul and Roberto Carlos was expected to make light work of their sumo challengers.
But like Stoke City at their best, a combination of rough-tackling and some spectacular work in the air, culminating in a Peter Crouch-style bicycle kick winner, saw the sumos win through.
England old boys team – Carlsberg 2006
Imagine a Sunday League team featuring all of England’s great former players – that was essentially the idea behind Carlsberg’s 2006 effort, which saw Bobby Robson managing a team of greats that included the Charlton brothers, Alan Ball, Peter Shilton, Terry Butcher, Chris Waddle and….Peter Reid?!?
Bryan Robson was also recruited alongside Des Walker and Peter Beardsley in a three-minute wonder that started on the football pitch and ended in the pub – though rumour has it that many of the players were left unhappy during filming when they realised they would not be drinking real beer for every take.
All-star kick around match – Adidas 2006
This effort saw two young boys duke it out in a street-based jumpers-for-goalposts affair featuring all the big names from 2006 including Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Arjen Robben alongside a few rather questionable inclusions in the form of Kevin Kuranyi, Djibril Cisse and Jermain Defoe – three players who didn’t even go to the finals.
Fortunately, the trio was counterbalanced by the inclusion of reanimated legends Michel Platini and Franz Beckenbauer, while Robben provided some much-needed realism in one section – diving in an attempt to win a penalty for his team in what remains a timely reminder that some things never change!
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