Lowe Howard-Spink presents a parallel universe, in which three
international footballers swap superstardom for a humdrum existence, in
a new advertising campaign for Reebok.
The three 30-second films star Peter Schmeichel, Ryan Giggs and Dennis
Bergkamp, shot in a rough-and-ready documentary style. Each ad suggests
the jobs the footballers might have ended up doing if, as young boys,
they hadn’t invested in proper football kit.
The first shows Schmeichel, the Manchester United and Danish
international goalkeeper, toiling in a pig farm.
Schmeichel says: ’I used to play a lot of football when I was a kid.
I was a goalie and I was good. I sometimes wonder what I could have
achieved if I had bought some good-quality Reebok training kit instead
of that cheap nylon rubbish.’ Schmeichel, famous for gesticulating to
his defenders on the pitch, uses his enthusiastic arm movements to shoo
his pigs instead.
The second film features his team-mate Giggs selling daffodils at a
roadside flower stall. He reminisces, sadly: ’I was about 15, I think.
My mum gave me the money to buy some new Reebok football boots, but on
the way to the sports shop I decided to get a cheaper pair so I could
take a girl to the pictures. Jill Evans, it was. She was gorgeous. I
waited for ages but she never turned up.’
Arsenal’s Bergkamp is shown working in a cheese factory, kitted out in a
uniform of white plastic overalls, wellies and hair-net.
He explains: ’It was my 12th birthday. My father gave me a choice - a
pair of Reebok football boots or a new train set. I have never regretted
taking the train set. It had a beautiful red engine, six carriages, two
tunnels and a beautiful station.’
The ads, which break next month, were shot by the documentary film
director, Kirk Jones, through Tomboy Films.
They were written by Geoff Smith at Lowes, and art directed by Simon
Morris at Lowes.
Media planning and buying is done through Western International Media,
Lowes’ media arm.
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