June 04, 2004

Great ad, wc02. Thanks.

posted by holden at 01:36 PM on June 04, 2004

Here's a version that doesn't need Quicktime. If you like that you'll probably like the Brazil v Portugal Nike advert too. (5mb zip file).

posted by squealy at 02:02 PM on June 04, 2004

Okay, I surrender. I like-uh thee sport you call cycling. (Or maybe I am just a sucker for corporate marketing.)

posted by jacknose at 02:15 PM on June 04, 2004

Um, i see nothing... A little help?

posted by StarFucker at 02:28 PM on June 04, 2004

The Fooker has gone blind! Aiieeeee! Dude, do you need to scroll down maybe to see the "Road to Lisbon" ad? (QuickTime is needed) You will think you have died and gone to heaven when you see it.

posted by worldcup2002 at 02:47 PM on June 04, 2004

I went to the bottom...i HAVE quicktime...but all i see is that stuff about "did you rate this page?" and then the stuff about the video on the right... I need to see this!

posted by StarFucker at 02:51 PM on June 04, 2004

I'll just go to the page and leave it for a minute, maybe it will show up.

posted by StarFucker at 02:53 PM on June 04, 2004

Yeah i tried that one too, i still see nothing... Squealy's link just gives me a blank, black page.

posted by StarFucker at 02:57 PM on June 04, 2004

btw, Squealy's link is smaller and crappier than the huge, in-living color marvel that is my link. Fooker, I'm torturing you now, aren't I? Man, I don't know why you can't see it. And kokaku, nice Lance Armstrong ad there. Sweet.

posted by worldcup2002 at 03:03 PM on June 04, 2004

OK, for Fooker's benefit, I will render the Lisbon ad as text: [SPOILER] Scooter pulls up curbside on cobblestone street. Zizu has just shown up at Xabi's (?) hotel/apt and calls up to him "You coming?" (in French, so I'm guessing that's what he said). Xabi (?) says yeah, and drops his leather suitcase and a soccer ball from his balcony about four floors up. Zizu steps aside catches the ball with his right foot, and lets the bag hit the sidewalk. Does a little trickery with the ball and drops it into his scooter rack. CUE MUSIC! Quincy Jones composition, cheery, whistling, road music. Now you see Zizu and David and other riders zooming through the streets of Paris out into the countryside. They meet up with Beckham and his bunch of soccer scooter riders on the road out into the countryside. Meanwhile, Vieira and a bunch of others are hanging out on their scooters in some country park while a family has a picnic. Vieira starts some mischief by volleying the ball into play and chasing after it. Ballack joins in and takes off with the ball with some player I don't know hassling him for it. B knocks it under a picnic table and climbs over the table to get the ball coming out the other side but a kid from the picknicking family robs him of it with a nice spin move. B and the other player are stunned, shrug their shoulders, as the kid dribbles off with the ball. Vieira easily dispossesses the kid and takes off through the trees as Ashley Cole signals for it. V curls a beautiful cross in through the maze of trees and Cole, slows down a little to let the ball go between his legs, then backheels it for that ugly German goalkeeper to slam first-time at "goal", between two trees being "guarded" by some old guy in an undershirt, who's probably from the picnicking family, too. It's a goalie's kick of course, and sails and curls over the old guy and into a truck that's driving by. The ugly German goalkeeper is embarrassed. Then it's off to a pick-up game involving about 50 townspeople and the superstars on some dustbowl of a soccer pitch. Intercut with images of an unidentified latecomer who's desperately trying to make it to the game on his scooter. Players are jumping and running into the game on all sides. Raul strides in nonchalantly as Beckham fights his way through the townspeople who playfully tug on his shirt. A guy in a blue tracksuit does a full-on slide tackle on Becks as the movie slows to a freeze and Becks totally jumps up with the ball and avoids it. The ball is knocked into the air and drops to Zizu who doesn't even break stride to receive it, keep it in the air, and continue to play keep-up as he accelerates toward goal. The latecomer (I don't know who this player is) is now riding up the field with the scooter, with his helmet on, waving happily to Zizu. A few spins here and there and Zizu's made space. He then chips the ball cross-field to his left where the latecomer frickin' somersaults off the handlebars of the scooter and, while upside-down and in mid-air meets the ball with both feet, knocking it down toward goal. The crowds "Aaah" echoes across the field. He then finishes his somersault and lands and keeps running as if he does this everyday. Raul, meanwhile, has just finished his afternoon stroll into the penalty area. He is electrified into action when he sees the ball, peels away from his marker, and volleys the ball into the top right corner of the goal past six guys who are all standing on the goalline. Then it's back on the scooters and everybody meets up, honks their horns in the middle of a plaza. [/SPOILER] Just plain marvellous.

posted by worldcup2002 at 03:38 PM on June 04, 2004

I would love to see that. I also remember the Nike Samba ads for World Cup 2002 (hey hey hey) that had the Brazil team playing their way through an airport. But this Adidas ad, man, still, the breadth of vision, the variety of environments, the inclusion of the everyman, the scooters, a work of genius.

posted by worldcup2002 at 04:31 PM on June 04, 2004

YEAH THEY WORK!! Low quality, but thanks for the research worlcup!

posted by StarFucker at 05:10 PM on June 04, 2004

And of course finding a version of the Adidas advert that worked on starfucker's clockwork computer. My New Year's resolution is going to be to learn how to read.

posted by squealy at 06:22 PM on June 04, 2004