World Cup 2026: Nike v Adidas – the brand battle


Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James are just some of the names who feature in Nike’s Rip the script World Cup advert.

Adidas’ Backyard Legends offering doesn’t scrimp on A-List talent either with Lamine Yamal, Jude Bellingham, Lionel Messi and Zinedine Zidane all included. Even an AI David Beckham makes an appearance.

They look more like Hollywood blockbusters than traditional adverts and those stars don’t come cheap.

The German brand spent a whopping £50m making theirs, according to reports. Neither company will disclose exactly how much they spent (we did ask), but you can be sure that the bills will run into tens of millions.

Eye-watering budgets are nothing new, but this year both Nike and Adidas have gone bigger and bolder than ever before.

If we’re judging purely on YouTube views, there’s only one winner at the time of writing.

Nike’s has pulled in 76 million views with Adidas’ ad on about seven million.

Camilo Andrade, the vice-president and general manager of Nike Global Football, said: “What has changed is the speed and shape of culture. In the digital age, stories travel faster, fragment faster, and get reinterpreted faster. That means the old model of one polished film doing all the work is no longer enough.

“With Rip The Script, we’ve built something broader: a football universe that lives both digitally and in real life.

“With this campaign in particular, success was never going to be measured only by how many people watched a film, but rather how we open the world up to give fans, players and creators something they could interpret, remix and take further themselves.

“When that starts happening, you know the work is moving beyond advertising and becoming part of football culture.”



Source link

  • Related Posts

    Which NFL breakouts, nosedives will continue in 2026 season?

    Ben SolakJun 19, 2026, 06:15 AM ET Close Ben Solak joined ESPN in 2024 as a national NFL analyst. He previously covered the NFL at The Ringer, Bleeding Green Nation…

    England vs New Zealand 2nd Test: Matt Fisher makes 50

    Matt Fisher makes a first Test half-century batting at number 10 to help England to a score of 291 in their first innings against New Zealand in the second Test…

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    You Missed

    First 'Funny Girl' at Shaw Festival, then 'Cabaret': Meet the breakout Toronto performer taking on theatre legends

    First 'Funny Girl' at Shaw Festival, then 'Cabaret': Meet the breakout Toronto performer taking on theatre legends

    Andy Burnham wins highly watched British local election

    Andy Burnham wins highly watched British local election

    New 15-Hour Airbus A350 Flights: Here’s Where French Bee Will Fly Now [Map]

    New 15-Hour Airbus A350 Flights: Here’s Where French Bee Will Fly Now [Map]

    Aecon schedules second quarter 2026 financial results release and conference call

    Film review: Toy Story 5 is good, but it’s more-of-the-same good

    Billionaire Ambani wants AI in every call, app, and home

    Billionaire Ambani wants AI in every call, app, and home