Materazzi has the last laugh in Nike ad
Acting like a complete tool in the World Cup hasn’t hurt Marco Materazzi’s status as an endorser. In this Nike commercial, the Italian defender, who was pummeled by a Zinedine Zidane forehead after he reportedly insulted Zidane’s sister in the closing minutes of the July final, is shown to be unfazed by all sorts of severe blows to the chest. Maybe he’s improved that part of his game, as he certainly dropped like a ton of bricks after the Zidane hit. The line at the end reads, “Every athlete has their secret weapon.” Read more about the spot here. |
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September 21, 2006 | Permalink |
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OK, so the most important global athletic championship is on the line. Billions of people are watching and are on the edge of their seats waiting for the outcome. You're on the team (Italy) that is fading physically after every passing minute ticks up the clock and you need to give your team an edge. Let me share with you Marco Materazzi's inner monologue(translated to English) "Hmmmm, looks like if we can hold on we'll get to penalty kicks to decide the match. I hate PK's, but this is the World Cup and I'll do anything to win. What shall I do? Hmmmm. Zidane is their best penalty kicker and he already has potted one today plus he's a very sensitive Frenchman who is easy to rattle. I know this, because he played in Italy for a while and has a rep for being the sensitive shaved head type." Shouts "Hey Zidane, your sister is a whore!" and within 2 seconds the entire course of World Cup history changes. The most important player on the opposing team just took himself out of the game, because he couldn't deal with a little trash talk. Who acted like the tool? I've said worse things to my opponents when I was in Little League and this guy implodes in front of the World? Pathetic. Zidane's popularity is kind of going the Martha Stewart route (irrelevant) and Materazzi is more popular than ever. Who is the tool again? Materazzi? No. He's a frickin genius.
Posted by: Giro | Sep 21, 2006 2:01:52 PM
*Golf clap for Giro*
Posted by: CorruptedJournalist | Sep 21, 2006 2:17:48 PM
I don't know about being Materazzi actions being the work of genius. If an athlete dopes and as a result wins and manages to outsmart doping controls, is he a genius for "doing what it takes to win"?
To me, the spirit of Materazzi's [supposed] intention is way out of line under the typically accepted and unspoken rules of sportsmanship. The game is there to be won or lost by scoring a goal or not. Not by gamesmanship like that.
Moreover, don't all the players take a vow before the game to play fair and not condone racism on the field of play? I seem to remember some of Materazzi's on-field "genius" speech that got Zidane all worked up included references to his ethnicity and religion.
I don't look forward to penalty kicks to decide a World Cup championship, but I'd much rather see the gae decided byt their feet and not their mouths.
Little leaguers don't know any better. Materazzi (and Zidane) should have matured by now.
Posted by: Juan Epstein | Sep 21, 2006 2:49:21 PM
Per wikipedia:
According to FIFA, both players had stressed that Materazzi's comments had been defamatory, but not of a racist nature.
Posted by: CorruptedJournalist | Sep 21, 2006 2:56:24 PM
This commercial is so poorly executed and looks so cheap. Nike should be embarrassed. Materazzi doesn't look tough at all. He looks like a thin wuss. It's so unbelievable. The effects are super cheesy. And the acting is so weak.
Posted by: wownike? | Sep 21, 2006 6:17:14 PM
It's a very weak ad. Opportunist, unimaginative and inauthentic. Most people watching this ad will know that Materazzi went down like a bag of shite while Zidane butted him, as any anthropologist will tell you, in the most primal, masculine way possible..straight to the chest. Giro comments on Materazzi being a genius and more popular then ever are wide of the mark. Arguably the world's greatest footballer sees his brand appeal and popularity double from already stratospheric heights, while Materazzi, gets some minor attention, sure, making him 'more popular than ever' which means that the whining non-entity still doesn't register on the Zidane scale. Infamy doesn't last like fame. Zidane's name will last a hell of a lot longer than that Mater...what's his name bloke. Nike dropped the ball here.
Posted by: Ross Cairns | Sep 27, 2006 11:34:51 AM
