World Cup creative scores another win

Another high-budget World Cup ad has dropped in the form of France’s squad reveal, merging Gondry-esque visuals with a US sitcom style.

The video surfaced online as France announced its squad. It places the team in the fictitious town of Clear Fountain, a direct English translation of Clairefontaine, the national training centre.

The narrative is a parody of American suburban television shows, complete with diners, barbecues and convenience stores. The point, however, is less to mock the host country but to use American iconography to stage France’s own identity in a more playful way.

The tagline, “Chacun a un rôle à jouer” (each one has a role to play), ties the ad’s purpose to the sitcom format. But, while the ad is certainly unique as squad announcements go, its creative excellence is in keeping with Adidas’ standard-setting campaign, revealed last week. 

Our take

I, for one, am all for creativity seeping into more traditionally staid formats, such as the team reveal.

The campaign is fun, bold and far more shareable than the usual tickboxing. It also sits in a broader trend of football teams using pop-cultural formats to cut through culturally: a theme we’ve covered before. 

The ‘Americanised yet unmistakably French’ leanings of the ad are a simple but smart play that’s affectionately handled here.

Ultimately, the work is part of a wider movement acknowledging that football is another form of international entertainment. Teams, therefore, can act like brands too.