36 Comments

It seems to work on fans tho - I thought my husband was going to cry when he saw this for the first time!
Alison Keith
2010-05-17 13:24:40

It's just terrible...Ian Botham in chain mail, images of both (god-like and deceased) Bobbys being evoked? And it's a bloody Danish lager! Utter drivel.
Martin Ballantine
2010-05-17 13:32:56

It's probably the worst Carlsberg ad ever!
Silas
2010-05-17 13:42:06

Should have used Smithy's speech for Sport Relief. That was motivational! http://tiny.cc/y90cs

I disagree with you Patrick. I find it moving, makes you proud to be English.

As Alison has said I think it works on their target audience. By no means is it as good as the pub team one. But it doesn't need to be. It's about England. It's about Football and it's motivating. What more does it need to do.
Lee Davies
2010-05-17 13:47:34

@ Lee

But I am their target audience! :-)
 PatrickBurgoyne
2010-05-17 13:56:00

No it isn't drivel. That last shot brings tears to the eyes of all my football loving mates. It works!
Roscoe
2010-05-17 13:56:57

I thought it was so stupidly over the top I didn't even get to the end, it was too embarrassing. Though I imagine it will work very well for the football fan who takes the whole thing far too seriously. Which is quite a lot of them.
Ben
2010-05-17 14:20:58

It's not the greatest football ad ever, this being my personal favorite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwlpTgbQTE&feature=fvst)

But the iconic image of Bobby and the Lion at the end wins it for me. Agree with Roscoe.
Jim
2010-05-17 14:45:51

I love this month before a major tournament when all the big boys bring out their football ads – Nike are consistently up there with the best so I'm looking forward to the full Rooney ad.

The Carling ad looks like a masterpiece though when you compare it to the Peter Crouch Pringles abomination.
Elliottq
2010-05-17 15:36:05

Best advert of the year. Whilst i know it's your job to be a critic, you are clutching at straws here. One other thing, Phil Taylor- undisputed best darts player in the world, not an unrecognisable nobody as you suggest. If you had to go and pick an advert to criticise, i would suggest in the future that you don't make it so hard for yourself.
James
2010-05-17 16:34:00

@James.

Seriously? You must have not watched many adverts this year. It is pompous and pretentious, and Patrick is right about the dart thing- I don't think I've seen a more hackneyed attempt at putting someone or something in context in a long time.

Yes, there are a million worse adverts, but this is massive campaign from a company who has a reputation of getting it very right in the past. However this ad will just seem overly-dramatic rubbish for anyone who doesn't cry over football.
Ben
2010-05-17 17:16:27

I thought it was so stupidly over the top I didn't even get to the end, it was too embarrassing. Though I imagine it will work very well for the football fan who takes the whole thing far too seriously. Which is quite a lot of them.
Ben
2010-05-17 18:50:36

Nothing wrong with crying over football ben, and I'd say those are the people this ad is aimed at.
Jim
2010-05-17 19:30:12

YEP! It's a terrible ad. When I saw it the other day I actually noted how awful it was. That doesn't happen very often as I tend to ignore advertising until something at either end of the spectrum breaks the barrier.
jm
2010-05-18 10:54:56

The real issue here is that most of these celebrity sports stars have already given their names to other products and advertising campaigns. Botham with his breakfast cereal, Steve Redgrave for Ultralaze, doesn't Dame Kelly Holmes sells lucozade between gold medals? Jack Charlton is a regular on these adverts too.



And i'm pretty sure it's the lion from MGM studios titles.



They've sold their names to so many companies for advertising contracts that we don't even know what they stand for anymore.



Give me a howling Terry Venables any day.



And that's saying something.
Matt Cooper
2010-05-18 11:08:00

It's not the best but it works on the target audience.

can someone help clear up something me and my mates have been arguing over for ages with the old lions ad. When Charlton gets booked he tells the ref.

a) a fake name 'John' (which is what people in sunday league do so they don't have to pay the fine)

or

b) says his real name.

you won't believe the debate this caused in the pub. Sad i know...
will
2010-05-18 12:27:49

It makes some of you proud to be English and brings a tear to the eye? Really?! An ad for a Danish beer, admittedly full of great English sporting heroes, but who will have probably been paid a tonne to be in the ad, and as a whole are completely and utterly cringe worthingly unconvincing in their roles. It's horrible. Just horrible. Not to mention the inclusion of Kasabian. I think it's safe to say I'm not the target audience, and I'm quite happy not to be. Bring on a beer ad that makes me excited about the world cup.
Secretly Swedish
2010-05-18 12:44:32

Quite interested to see the debate for and against this. I was told about it before seeing it for the first time and - in my current pre-World Cup permastate of excitement - couldn't wait to see it. But it left me feeling a bit underwhelmed on first viewing, and has felt less and less galvanising each time I have seen it. And believe me, I am easy pickings for this sort of thing.

I think I agree that some of our heroes in the ad are devalued by their appearance in countless others over the years. When Botham shows up my first gut reaction is 'Shredded Wheat'. And in particular the Phil Taylor and Elle MacArthur cameos are really boring.

It's not a bad ad though; we have developed higher expectations of a brand such as Carlsberg over the years after some really great spots, so it's probably a bit rich to criticise them when they fall a tad short. As stated above, watch the Pringles-Crouch affair if you really want a World Cup ad to complain about!
Doug Kerr
2010-05-18 13:27:48

The important thing about Phil 'The Power' Taylor isn't that he throws a dart, it's what he hits.

Watch it again.

And then upload a video here: http://www.youtube.com/user/EnglandTeamTalk#p/u
Bentos
2010-05-18 13:42:19

What a muddle. Couldn't the various stars just have had their own bits of team-talk dialogue? That might have kept it a bit lighter and more fun, and more in line with the overall campaign. Admittedly not all those sporting starts might be Oscar-worthy, but almost anything would be better than that unbearably pompous VO.
Mike Reed
2010-05-18 13:47:21

@will i think he says 'jack' so his brother gets the booking :D
Dave - Graphic Design Essex
2010-05-18 13:56:23

The old lions is great! The little details, lIke Stuart Pearce's pink top, make it superb.

The new ad is OK. The idea has not been pushed.
L
2010-05-18 14:10:22

Wow, that truly is a poor ad (like others have said, not the worst by far, but it is VERY poor)

I cannot believe there are folks that claim it brings a tear to their eye or makes them 'proud to be English'. If it were a swimming team representing Microsoft would it make you proud to be a Windows user? If it were a debate team representing the colour yellow would it make you proud to be blonde? Pfff what a loose association you must have with culture and society to think that the England football team has anything to do with being English; unless of course you subscribe to the estuary English, eel-eating dog-racing stereotype that I thought died out in the '90's.

There are things to be proud of when it comes to being English; football, and particularly this ad are not one of them. I've never been a big fan of sport ads that take themselves too seriously; 'cause it is just sport; whether you enjoy it or not is irrelevant, it still doesn't make it something epicly important. I say save epic ads for epic things: Nature, fast cars and toilet cleaner ... or at least make it tongue-in-cheek.

I particularly loved the oh-so-obvious dart throw from the 'dart guy'. Whether or not he's a good dart player is irrelevant given that only about 4 people watch professional darts anyway. The real question wasn't "how do we make it obvious it's him?", but "Why are we giving this guy money to be in our ad?",

All Saatchi have done here is gather all the sport celebs that already sell out and combine them in one uber sell-out; weave them into a hackned metaphor and rely on the later half of the 2-tone emotional reaction of the average football fan (fight/cry).

I'm not the intended (or perceived) target audience for this ad ... now THAT makes me proud. What makes me proud to be English? Our crisp selection.
Danish beer drinking English sport patriot
2010-05-18 14:19:47

i lost interest when Phil 'The Power' Taylor threw a dart at maradonas hand.
nick
2010-05-18 14:33:24

I think it works well because it reaches the british public in the sense that they find that special feeling when making your way through the tunnel.

They've used TV icons also that alot of people may know and football fans are sure to know like Jeff Stelling. It kind of puts you in that position, that your about to run on that pitch.

Also at this point in time this ad works best rather than the other ads you have shown. The fact that the world cup is just around the corner and the england team are more prepared than ever from the help from Capello.

It kind of builds it up enough for the viewers at home to feel ready for the world cup and that much anticipated feeling is the same felt with a pint of Carlsberg.
adam wilkes
2010-05-18 14:50:22

Remember Jim Baxter
Kenny Dalgleish
2010-05-18 15:19:58

I wasn't aiming at Maradonna's Hand, I was aiming at Kasabian.
Phil 'The Power' Taylor
2010-05-18 16:23:27

The Molsen did it better for Canada. This was on around Olym,pic time inbetween the coverage and really got the country excited. I'm English and hate to say that the Canadians did it better.

Even the soundtrack is spot on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aQkrV3ppAw
Jones
2010-05-18 16:24:28

The problem was the tone for me: I couldn't work out whether this was serious or OTT, so it fell in this awkward halfway house of being neither.

The irony is Carlsberg have done great celeb-filled football ads. Can't believe no-one's mentioned one of my all time faves, Chris Palmer's "Old Lions". Cracking idea, brilliantly understated execution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TOF8kgCTx0
Ed
2010-05-18 18:54:21

I don't think it's over the top at all. It's not the best ever, no. I prefer the pub team one if any, but the fact is that this is a WORLD CUP football ad. The ESP isn't even the same as regular international football let alone league. It's THE competition, that comes only once every 4 years, people will love this, it's not perfect, and could be better, but an audience won't be looking for its negatves will they.

As for Bobby Robson, I don't personally know enough about him to admire him, but for those who do, it's not over the top in any sense of the word. This kind of patriotism is what the UK's screaming out for - Steve redgrave, Kelly Holmes and whatsisface in chainmail of all things are perfect, and I think for once there's some real strategy in an ad campaign, taking that into account.

Well done. Just no dart player next time.
J
2010-05-18 20:51:40

Ah, "Old Lions" was mentioned... my bad.
Ed
2010-05-18 22:38:49

canada ... LOL
i am sam
2010-05-19 10:31:43

But I am their target audience! :-)
PatrickBurgoyne
2010-05-17 13:56:00

Patrick. I don't remember seeing pretentious twat who edits a mag for fiddly people as the target audience on the brief:-)

Meanwhile back in the real world it's going gangbusters with the target audience
Paul
2010-05-19 18:42:53

@ Paul



Good to see creative directors defending their agency's work but that comment's a bit over the top don't you think?



Presumably somewhere on your brief it had the words 'male, English and football fan'?
 PatrickBurgoyne
2010-05-20 17:57:00

@Patrick. You think the ad is pompous. I think you're being pretentious. It's an ad for the masses and masses of them love it. And the target audience is the 11 guys who will be walking onto the pitch. God knows sometimes they've needed reminding to have some pride and passion ;-)
Paul
2010-05-21 08:35:16

@Paul

But didn't you know? Capello's turned them all onto Italian Neo-Realism now. It's all 'Antonioni this', 'Visconti that'. The only reason Carragher agreed to come back to the squad was because he'd heard they were screening Bitter Rice every night at the training camp. And don't get John Terry started on The Bicycle Thieves or you'll never shut him up...
 PatrickBurgoyne
2010-05-21 12:26:25

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