Tuesday, June 29, 2010

World Cup 2010: The Future That Never Was

A month prior to the World Cup, Nike unleashed their "Write the Future" campaign, and, like many others, I was pretty awed upon first viewing.



The video pulled in a million viewers a day on YouTube the week it debuted. As I type this, 17.7 million viewers have watched the clip above. All good for Nike, but how did the World Cup work out for the stars of the show? Eh, not so good. To recap:

Didier Drogba: Eliminated in the group stages
Fabio Cannavaro: Eliminated in the group stages
Wayne Rooney: Eliminated in the Round of 16
Frank Ribery: Eliminated in the group stages
Ronaldinho: Never made it to South Africa
Cristiano Ronaldo: Eliminated in the Round of 16

We haven't seen a collection of athletes in an ad campaign flop this badly since the Dan and Dave Reebok commercials prior to the 1992 Summer Olympics. A tough break for Nike, but I have a feeling they'll do just fine.

Update: Apparently the curse extends to Roger Federer as well. At least Kobe Bryant had a good month.

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