Trash talking in the soccer world

Watching Argentina play England in a “friendly” soccer match over the weekend, I was reminded of another great soccer rivalry, Argentina and Brazil, and of the two ads shown here. (They’re oldies but goodies.) The story goes that in 2000, Brazil beat Argentina in a qualifier for the 2002 World Cup. Soon after, Young & Rubicam in Buenos Aires rolled out the top ad on behalf of Tulipán condoms, graphically explaining to Brazil what it could expect next time around. (The tagline translates to, “We are already thinking of revenge.”) Brazil’s soccer federation responded with the ad below, making good use of the lowercase “a.” Of the victory, the tagline says, “It wasn’t the first time. Nor will it be the last.” (The following autumn, as Argentina qualified easily for the World Cup while Brazil struggled, Y&R dreamed up another ad, this one for Tulipán’s lubricant gel. “We entered comfortably,” it said.)

—Posted by Tim Nudd

November 15, 2005 in Sports, Y&R | Permalink