Fox Brings Beckham, Deadpool, Holyfield, Embiid To FIFA World Cup Party
By Barry Janoff
May 15, 2018: People know about the soccer stars and National Teams that will be part of FIFA World Cup 2018, but Fox has brought in some other celebrities to support its role as event’s exclusive U.S. English-language network.
David Beckham, Ryan (Deadpool) Reynolds, Joel Embiid, Alex Morgan and Evander Holyfield are among those who play a part in Fox Sports’ “The World Becomes the FIFA World Cup” campaign, showing off their love not only for the sport but for such stars as Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo — both of whom are front-and-center in the multi-platform effort.
“The World Becomes the FIFA World Cup” is anchored by an umbrella spot, “This Summer,” with the full 90-second ad showing clips of on-field action, members of the Fox soccer broadcast team, fans and snippets of 15-second stand-alone spots with Beckham, Reynolds and the others.
Played out to “Over and Over and Over” by Jack White, a voiceover offers, “Men become gods. Allies become rivals. Players become fans.”
“Sign me up!” says Embiid.
The lead spot also includes Mexico’s Jonathan and Giovanni Dos Santos brothers, Neymar, Paul Pogba and the National Team from Iceland.
Several 30-second spots also are part of the campaign, including “Epic” (In a duel between Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronald, “Everyone agrees on the two best. One controls the game. One finishes it. But who will take all the glory? “), “Men Become Gods” (A focus on what could potentially be the last World Cup appearance by Leo Messi . . . “a moment three billion people will be watching”) and “Everything Becomes Not Enough” (There’s famous, and then there’s Ronaldo, who has all the soccer glory except a World Cup title).
Support includes radio, print, Internet, social media and OOH.
Lead agency is Widen + Kennedy, New York.
Holyfield’s 15-second spot shares a bit of sport’s history. Watching a soccer match on TV, Holyfield experiences déjà vu when Luis Suárez bites Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder during a 2014 World Cup match.
“Something about that guy I don’t like,” says Holyfield, who had a similar incident in the ring when Mike Tyson bit off a piece of his ear during their heavyweight match in 1997.
Also with their own spots are Embiid and Beckham and Deadpool, who appear together in a series, including one in which Reynolds as Deadpool mocks Beckham's English National Team.
“It doesn’t get any bigger than the FIFA World Cup,” Robert Gottlieb, evp-marketing, for Fox Sports, said in a statement.
“It brings together the worlds of sports and celebrity for an incredible month-long pop culture event,” said “It was a natural fit to have movie stars, musicians and championship athletes as part of our campaign.”
The World Cup is scheduled for June 14-July 15 (Fox and FS1).
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