As part of a new Adidas advertising campaign, Brazilian soccer legend Kaká (former AC Milan and Real Madrid star) was spotted playing soccer in Hackney, East London. “Heard you guys need a player”, the Ballon d’Or winner said as he was teaming up with Hackney Wick FC. Despite scoring two goals as they played, Kaká couldn’t avoid being nutmegged by one of the players – which helped sending this ad viral.
Kaká’s surprise appearance is part of the Adidas Rent-A-Pred campaign, a new Predator 20 hotline. The idea is for teams in the UK to be able to contact Adidas in order to apply for a new player to join them. For instance, if a teammate bails out last minute, players can call this number and hope for a game they’ll truly remember – with some of the area’s finest Predator athletes.
Has a team-mate let you down? Whatsapp PRED to 07444 081 752 now and we’ll send you one of London’s best ballers in their place.
Seems unfair? Rent-a-Pred is unfair. 100% Unfair. pic.twitter.com/vuYRsgSRs4
— adidas UK (@adidasUK) February 4, 2020
Now the twist? A brilliant comeback by Paddy Power, the sports betting and gaming operator that has five million customers worldwide. Paddy Power is an international gaming brand, with a market-leading presence in the UK, Ireland, Australia and the USA, as well as a range of operations across Europe. And a history of brilliant advertising stunts.
Paddy Power responded to Adidas’ Kaká video with Neil Ruddock, an English former professional footballer, who played as a central defender from 1986 to 2003, and was voted the 17th “hardest soccer player of all time.” Yes, that’s quite a bit of time ago. And while he isn’t exactly Kaká, he won’t be so easy to nutmeg…
It was clearly a joke, showing how nobody wanted to play with Ruddock for obvious reasons – like him talking nonsense or smoking a cigarette on the field – perhaps showing how skeptical this whole thing Adidas launched really is? How many more times will a player like Kaká really come out and play?
That’s yet another great example of a brand that did the whole reactive/realtime advertising thing right. Remember how Aviation Gin rode Peloton’s blunder? It not only made us laugh (VERY hard), it was also released quickly. Kudos, PP!