Nike ‘Write the Future’ World Cup Soccer Commercial – What’s the Song?

The article explains the commercial advertisement ‘Write the Future’ released by Nike for the occasion of the 2010 Football World Cup.

Nike is one of the leading American brands in the field of manufacturing quality Sportwear. The name and fame enjoyed by this brand today is a result of successful advertisement campaigns and sponsorships in various commercial matches and other media-based advertisements. One such famous advertisement from the marketing team of Nike is named as ‘Write the Future’. This campaign was made for the 2010 Football World Cup and features several football stars including Didier Drogba, Fabio Cannavaro, Wayne Rooney, Frank Ribery, Ronaldinho, Landon Donovan, Thiago Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo along with special cameos from tennis player Roger Federer, basketball champion Kobe Bryant as well as Homer Simpson. 

The 3-minute long video features the famous instrumental progressive rock song ‘Hocus Pocus’ written and developed by a Dutch band named ‘Focus’ (the song featured on the 1971 album named ‘Moving Waves’ developed by the band) and is famous for featuring the unique blend of hard rock riffs and yodelling. With the unexplainable lyrics running in the background of the video, the audience can see Drogba making a run for a goal against Italy while Cannavaro is in close pursuit. The scene soon shifts towards the audience who is eagerly looking forward towards that goal and a massive street party has erupted in the assumption of a successful goal. 

The screen then shows Rooney who is looking forward to making a move against France while hordes of fans are waiting and hoping for the best. The pass is then intercepted by Ribery which leads to a violent reaction amongst the public where they can be seen doing riots, tearing down the posters of Rooney and a sudden plunge in the stock market. There are many other similar hit or miss moments throughout the video where the players can be seen anticipating their future after every goal that they might hit or miss. 

It has managed to successfully show the significant impact that one victorious shot could have on the lives of the player. For example, Cannavaro imagines a future full of talk shows and media fame where there are songs being performed in his honour because of his goal saving gameplay. On the other hand, it shows the anger and resentment that can be seen in fans if the player is unable to take a victorious goal. The fate suffered by Rooney is a wonderful example where he becomes the victim of various riots and is relegated to having to play as a groundskeeper because he missed a crucial shot during the game. 

The video shows that a brief moment wherein the player is bothered by the turn his future would take after every shot taken by him. It manages to show the numerous thoughts and emotions running at the back of his head subconsciously while he is channelizing his attention towards the gameplay. 

The advertisement soon won the prestigious ‘Film Grand Prix’ at the 2011 Cannes Lions Festival.  

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