ESPN unveiled the next phase of their advertising campaign Wednesday to promote its coverage of the 2010 World Cup.
The campaign is entitled “One Game Changes Everything.” The first video, see “Robben Island” video above, began airing across ESPN networks on April 7 and tells the true story of how Nelson Mandela and many South African activists played soccer while incarcerated in a prison on Robben Island. The video is brilliantly shot and gave me goosebumps just watching it.
ESPN will release three more commercials for the “One Game Changes Everything” campaign. UNITED conveys the passion for the FIFA World Cup that unites disparate cultures. The Power of 10 celebrates the honor and burden that comes with wearing the most sacred jersey number in soccer. Passion captures the excitement that the FIFA World Cup invokes—highlighting the documented “baby boom” that occurred nine months after Germany hosted the 2006 event.
For music fans, you’ll be glad to know that ESPN will use specially recorded music by Soweto Gospel Choir recorded and filmed in South Africa, with music and live concert footage from U2’s record breaking concert at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., in October 2009. This collaboration will appear in every program throughout ESPN’s presentation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup including soccer highlights, match and studio coverage.
I really hope this doesn’t mean that ESPN is going to go “human interest” piece crazy like NBC does the Olympics.
With Bob Ley at the helm for their broadcasts, ESPN is definitely going to focus on human interest stories. But I don’t think they’re going to do it to the extent that NBC does it where the actual sports action itself is secondary. Plus, NBC showed most of their coverage on delay. With ESPN, all of the games will be shown live.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
I hope not, but we know how they will “dumb it” down for the once every four years fan.
I actually prefer to watch it in Spanish just so I don’t have to deal with it.
Gaffer,
Hoping EPL Talk can get together soon and come up with some Doctor’s notes (myself included) for all readers who will be in work or school for a large number of the live games during the WC this summer.
I’ll write them up, and you can sign them Dr. Gaffer, think this will work?
Surely you’ve got some medical experience somewhere along the lines.
Do what I did in 2006 and just take 3 hour lunches.
Or tell them you have a fever and the only cure is a perscription for more Vuvuzela
We need an adept photoshopper ASAP.