Beckham drums up a storm in stunning new video for Samsung's Galaxy Note
David Beckham is the latest star to join the Olympic advertising circus. The soccer superstar has made a brilliant web-only video to promote Samsung's Galaxy Note phone .
The video, created by Cheil USA, sees Beckham walk onto a room with a wall of drums and many footballs. On his tablet computer , a director sketches out the order he wants Beckham to shoot in.
Beckham starts banging the balls in , in what becomes a drum-version of Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy.'
Younghee Lee, head of global marketing at Samsung, told AdAge magazine , "We wanted to cut through the glut of Olympic ad clutter."
The video, deviating from a traditional television or print campaign, is not expected to go on TV. Instead it will be released in multiple online venues, including Beck's Facebook fan page.
Cheil USA. Becks had just a two-hour window for the, er, shoot .
Lars Bastholm, chief creative officer at Cheil USA didn't want Beckham to act. "That's not what [footballers] do, they play sports, and that's what they are good at," he told AdAge. Beckham's strength as a player is his precise kicking, so that's what the team at Cheil focused on."
Initially, said the mag, the idea was to have Becks paint the Olympic rings with his perfectly-placed kicks. But Cheil decided to go with sound.
'Ode to Joy' has plenty of ties with the games, having been used for many ceremonies and commercials .
It was too much to hope that Becks - precise kicker though he is - would actually drum out the song. Endless Noise created the music post-production, mixing in actual studio noises .
Jason Zada, the man behind a top video "Take This Lollipop" last year, directed the commercial but wasn't available for the actual film. Cheil had to hire someone else.
Samsung were well ahead of the game in signing up Becks - a year ago - as their global brand ambassador for the Olympics.
He was their number one choice for the role. "it’s clear that David Beckham’s connections with London 2012 are unparalleled," the company said.
Beckham chipped in , " Working with a globally respected brand, like Samsung, our aim will be to help more and more people to enjoy and share the excitement of the London 2012 Olympic Games."
P.S. No truth that Becks is being recalled to the England squad because of his drumming.