Verizon World Cup Billboard
It is coming- the most watched event in the entire world…NO not the American Idol season finale, but FIFA’s 2010 World Cup, taking place in South Africa. Yes, soccer…..a sport that has a high level of participation for kids in the U.S. but has shown little ability to reach Americans as a major television event, even with a solid U.S. Team and David Beckham’s arrival to the U.S. professional league MLS (Major League Soccer).
How will most Americans even know that there is a major sporting event taking place starting June 11? Of course the answer is advertising, as it is for every major sporting event from the Super Bowl to the Olympics. And the wave of advertising has begun.
In Latino communities, the billboards have been springing up, such as this one from Verizon in San Francisco’s Mission District, which reads, “Para ver 64 partidos en vivo, quieres 3G de Verizon” (To see 64 games live, you want Verizon 3G). The major marketing publications such as Advertising Age are also getting into the act, with discussions about major investments by such advertisers as Nike, whose World Cup ad, as cleverly pointed out by Ad Age, uses the images of major players playing for teams sponsored by Nike without mentioning the World Cup (Nike is not even a sponsor). You can see the Nike commercial at Ad Age, as well as read the publication’s review of the ad. Since this is a global sporting event, we expect to see some very interesting advertising and are looking forward to an entertaining Mundial.
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