THE ONSET OF a major tournament inevitably is accompanied by the arrival of a number of big-budget football-related advertisements of varying quality, and this summer is no exception, with Euro 2016 set to begin.
Readers who aren’t too young will likely remember the classic Brazil/Nike ad that coincided with the 1998 World Cup.
It’s too early to judge if the new Ronaldo short movie deserves a place in the pantheon of great sporting ads, but it’s certainly one of the most unique football-related promos in recent memory.
‘The Switch’ is kind of like the footballing equivalent of the 1988 Tom Hanks movie Big. In it, a ball boy’s body is transferred into Ronaldo’s after a coming together between the two at the advertising hoardings at a Portugal game.
Consequently, the young boy suddenly has phenomenal football skill and swiftly goes on to play for England and Man City, with the ‘fake’ Ronaldo and ‘real’ Ronaldo ultimately facing off in an international match at the film’s conclusion.
Joe Hart, Chris Smalling, Megan Rapinoe, Jose Fonte, Cedric Soares, Vieirinha, Raphael Varane, Anthony Martial and Sergi Roberto are among the other players to feature in the star-studded advert, which at nearly six minutes, is Nike’s longest-ever brand film.
Meanwhile, even aside from the release of this ad, it’s certainly been a good week for Ronaldo — yesterday, he scored a brace in Portugal’s 7-0 thrashing of Estonia, while he has also just been named the world’s highest-paid athlete for the first time.
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