I love the biggest sporting events. The competition, the intensity… the COMMERCIALS! It’s Christmas morning for marketers who love seeing the inspiration, creativity, and superstar cameos that big budgets can buy. The FIFA World Cup was a nail-biter, 0:0 through deep into overtime… Thank goodness for the emotional relief of advertising : )

My favorite ads fell into two categories:

#1 - Customized to the audience. Several top sponsors created full soccer-themed campaigns and may have run the ad or related ads throughout the 104-game season.
#2 - “Just Ads”. Other advertisers just featured their funny and entertaining, but not soccer-specific, ads. A few broke through the noise, and might have been more cost-effective across soccer and non-soccer placements.

My favorites?

• Airbnb - Inspiring and engaging storytelling about how cross-cultural connection has always led to a better world. After the cross-cultural love-themed halftime, it hit all my heartstrings.

• Google - Nice product integration and multicultural highlights alongside ‘the world-is-one’ storytelling. Could have been run in different languages in different countries.

• Coke - Really captured the suspense and anticipation of soccer; also could have run globally with different adaptations

• The Beckham Ads - Both Home Depot and Lay’s used David Beckham in a series of funny, engaging, and relevant ads.

• Don Julio - Energizing peek into the exclusive afterparty

• Kalshi - Features legendary soccer manager José Mourinho, "The Special One," making predictions.

• Apple TV’s Ted Lasso half-time integration - Does this count as an ad? Ted Lasso did a short bit and introduced Justin Bieber for the half-time show. Entertainment? Advertising? Can we get a new season of Ted Lasso, please?

• “Just an ad” - Intuit’s Tooth Fairy and her business problems, and Verizon’s Dr Evil returns, weren’t specifically targeted for soccer fans but were funny and memorable. Plus, they might have been cost-efficient for running across FIFA and non-FIFA placements

Watch them all below:

Airbnb - The World is Meant to Meet

Google - The Most Searched Sport
- I loved the script - Soccer “Gives us a reason to believe - I belive in you,” “deep down we all just want an excuse to dance…” “We aren’t strangers - just 4 billion fans all speaking the same language. Search on.”
- Must have had a big integration, secured the first slot after the end of the first half

Coke: “What a goal”

Lay’s - Bandwagon

Home Depot - “Build it like Beckham”

Don Julio - Por Amor

Kalshi - Predictions

Apple TV - Does this count as an ad? Integration of Ted Lasso introducing Justin Bieber for the halftime show.

Non-Soccer-Specific Ads

Intuit Tooth Fairy Ad

Verizon - Dr Evil Returns

Hall of Fame

Most of these commercials come and go, but one in sporting history stays with me, and I watch again and again: PG&E Olympics 2012. It hits the heart of the sacrifices moms make behind the scenes with a great storytelling arc and product integration. Love, love, love.

This blog isn’t meant to endorse the business or momentum of any company mentioned herein. Just a commentary on the compelling nature of the creative produced by their teams.

Carilu Dietrich is a former CMO, most notably the head of marketing who took Atlassian public. She currently advises CEOs and CMOs of high-growth tech companies. Carilu helps leaders operationalize the chaos of scale, see around corners, and improve marketing and company performance.

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