"What the... football!" Has Nike done it again?

With the eyes of footie fans riveted to the Women's World Cup, the USA's defending champions have their work cut out to 'three-peat' - which means to win a particular sporting championship three times, especially consecutively. England are 7/2 second favourites to win the 2023 Women's World Cup, with only USA ahead of the Lionesses at 9/4 in the betting. What do you think of this ad, where sports apparel giant Nike mamages to cram in a ton of information about the current stars of the pitch, within the device of someone just waking up to today's game? As the US multinational puts it: "A slippery banana peel. A 24-year nap. And a fever dream full of football’s greatest athletes. This is football in 2023—it’s a great day to be awake. Our starting 11: Ada Hegerberg, Alex Morgan, Asisat Oshoala, Chloe Kelly, Debinha, Grace Geyoro, Kadeisha Buchanan, Megan Rapinoe, Sam Kerr, Sophia Smith, and Wang Shuang". For the less informed, the promotion's a great way to start getting familiar with the big names, while those in the know will probably enjoy the wit and pace of the commercial. Brands are waking up to the fact that there's huge marketing potential in the field of women's sports, which continue to excite plenty of interest despite a pre-existing 90/10% imbalance with men's tournaments in terms of media coverage. The 2019 women's World Cup saw US TV ad spend of $96 million, while the 2020 men's figure was $350 million. This time around, brands are scrabbling to get in on the advertising action, and the UK's BBC and ITV terrestrial TV networks are broadcasting all 64 matches among 32 teams - considerably up from the 2019 edition where 24 teams competed. Forbes reports that: "The first FIFA Women’s World Cup was held in 1991, 61 years after the first men’s tournament in 1930. In terms of growth comparisons, the women’s tournament overall attendance numbers (estimated 1.1 million to 1.5 million) are outpacing the men’s at their own 30-year mark (800,000)". Is Nike keeping pace with their renowned branding edge in this campaign? Your thoughts invited!

Keywords: Nike What The Football, women's world cup 2023 commercials, Nike commercials 2023, women's sports ads, USA women's football, Wieden Kennedy Portland