In anticipation of the big game between Brazil and Portugal today we couldn’t resist revisiting this old Nike ad from 2004:
Nike always seems to capture and evoke the appropriate emotions perfectly in their football adverts. This playful, Latin-influenced track by Perry Como sets the mood brilliantly. The Brazil team have featured heavily in Nike’s adverts over the years, and each time Nike have used another great Latin track: Papa Loves Mambo, Mas Que Nada, and Soul Bossa Nova.
But what happens when Nike feature some of England’s players on home soil? The classic grey backdrop of an English summer coupled with the English distinct lack of rhythm that the Brazilian’s Samba style football oozes is hardly synonymous with Latin music. This can only mean one thing…Blur!
“Parklife” is, if anything, even more emotive than Nike’s Latin alternatives. Its classic 90’s Britpop feel helps the ad resonate with every Englishman’s memories of playing football with their mates, which is exactly what Nike intended. From an English perspective, this is possibly Nike’s best football advert, so It just goes to show that you don’t need the Brazilian flair to make an exciting football ad…the right music will do it perfectly!
Our next blog will be on Monday 28th June…let’s hope we’ll be doing a feature on songs to celebrate an English victory rather than songs of commiseration!
Matt Lee, Music Supervisor
soundlounge
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