It’s not just about soccer.

Thank you to The Way I Say It for 1. giving props to my blog and 2. bringing this awesome ad to my attention. I’ll be honest, I’ve been a bit distracted lately and have a lot of post ideas in my drafts. I promise to post some soon so you can get my semi(non) expert opinion on everything.

Let me first make an important statement. This is how I feel about soccer in general: “If God had wanted man to play soccer, he wouldn’t have given us arms”- Mike Ditka. It’s absolutely my least favorite sport and I can’t stand watching it except once every 4 years when the World Cup comes around. Then, I tolerate and even follow it.

Here is the commercial for the 2010 World Cup. This is by far some of the most powerful copy that I’ve seen in a while. I wish I had written it:

This is my favorite part:

It’s not about elections, sanctions, proliferations, he said, she said ,my land, your land, no man’s land.

It’s not about the stock market, black market,orange alerts, green homes, hope, change, fear or loathing.

It’s not about communism, socialism or capitalism, war or peace, love or hate.

This is about the one month every 4 years when we all agree on one thing.

Tying these powerful messages, phrases and images together is so fantastic that I’ve already watched this commercial about 4 times. It’s like that game you play where you have to start a word with the ending word. “Black street, street sign, sign off, off-put….” only a million times BETTER!  I’m just in awe of the way these words are put together and the resulting message. I read recently that “the copywriter is dead” but I’m sorry, this copy proves that it’s just as important as ever. Mastering the written word is an art. Not many people have the ability to strategically place each word into a sentence in a way that transforms something average to something extraordinary. With people’s shortened attention spans these days, grabbing them instantly with words is  a feat of advertising and is something to be admired.

I hope to one day write an ad as strategic and captivating as this one. I also hope it’s not about soccer.

UPDATE: Also LOVE this soccer ad. (Mostly because of the animals, but it’s fantastic and super cool!) Thanks Liz Daney!

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