72andSunny tackles hero worship with a new 60-second spot for Adidas featuring Lionel Messi entitled “Unfollow.”
The spot opens with voiceover narration of a young man who views Messi as his hero and idol. He continues extolling the virtues of the soccer star he considers “the best ever” over in-game footage of Messi and shots of his many devoted fans. “I’ve always wanted to be like you, to play like you, but I am not you,” the narrator concludes, adding, “I want to see what the world thinks of me and what I can create.” He then schools a team of defenders to score an exciting goal, as Messi watches the video online and can’t help but smirk, impressed.
The approach follows in the same vein as 72andSunny’s initial offering for Adidas following winning AOR status on Adidas’ Sport division, a 90-second anthem ad that featured Messi and a slew of other stars called “Create Your Own Game.” “Unfollow” further explores the message that people should find their won path to greatness, rather than just following their idols. The idea is explored in a more specific way here, with an aspiring athlete able to impress his idol once he stops trying to be like him. For his part, Messi probably doesn’t care if you take the message literally and unfollow him on social media, since he has some 79 million Facebook followers to fall back on.