ITV may have 1.5 million reasons to kiss its advertising payment goodbye, after blowing Nike’s goal in what was meant to be its blockbuster "Write the Future" Video ad, starring football (soccer) star Wayne Rooney and snippet appearances by sports legends like basketball star Kobe Bryant.
Nike's "Write the Future" video endeavor apparently held no advertising future for the sports giant.
The stunning three-minute World Cup ad film made by Nike was screened in 32 countries, following the final whistle blow in Saturday’s Champions League football final. An ITV mix-up meant that 10 seconds of ad action went missing from the last moments of the advertisement-worst of all, at least for ITV, that blunder meant absolutely no mention of Nike. Nix the Swoosh, call that Whoops.
Viewers saw England football hero Rooney, age 24, being knighted by England's Queen after pulling off a football match-saving tackle. The Nike ad features a host of top stars including Chelsea’s Didier Drogba, 32, and Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo, 25. As Nike’s 2010 World Cup ad reached its finale, the picture suddenly froze in place, replaced with an ITV1 logo and never reaching its Nike finale. Viewers were stunned. On Twitter, messages circulated, with the message embodied in those like 'DareDigital' who wrote: “Nike buy the whole ad break for their new spot and ITV chop the end off. I predict a meeting on Monday with no coffee or biscuits...” And maybe a grammar lesson for fans, but that's an entirely different issue.
Fuming Nike management may withhold the estimated £1.5 million payment to ITV for the ad. Dubbed "Write The Future", the advertisement was created by Hollywood director Alejandro G Inarritu and included sports star appearances by Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant, 31, and cartoon legend 'Homer Simpson'. A spokeswoman for Nike is quoted as saying, “It is disappointing. We’re waiting to hear back from ITV.” ITV spokesman James Macleod said: “We are looking into the cause of the issue [with the ad] and are in close dialogue with Nike about it.” That 'conversation' is probably closer than 'close', 1.5 million times closer.