Unless you were living under a rock last week, you’d surely have joined the rest of America in wishing Abby Wambach well as she glided into retirement.
From FOX Soccer broadcast coverage, to U.S. Soccer vignettes, to #ThanksAbby trending on social media and even a G.O.A.T. blast from President Obama, the heartfelt appreciation of a nation was on grand display.
Along with all of this was some great commercial advertising from brands connected to Abby. Most notably Nike, the perennial leader in this type of work, and my favorite corporate marketer of the evening…Gatorade.
Which of these two iconic brands won the night is up for debate (surely made for some great water cooler chat at our office) but I challenge you to watch both these spots and not choose the performance drink over the apparel company:
On the men’s side, Gatorade did some pretty nice work around Landon Donovan’s retirement as well:
Going even further out on a limb here…I’ll contend that Gatorade is becoming the best at this genre, with further evidence coming from the brands’ dueling work surrounding famed NY Yankee SS Derek Jeter’s retirement in 2014:
You certainly can’t go wrong with any of these ads, they’re all top shelf in their own right. But starting with the retirement of #2, then #10 and now on to #20, there may just be a new sheriff in town.
Categories: Digital Content, Major League Soccer, Thought Leadership, Women's World Cup, World Cup