Rick and Morty harness the power of soccer players in Adidas crossover
Adidas has brought in comic duo Rick and Morty to promote its new X Speedportal soccer boots.
At the heart of the campaign, created by TBWA\Neboko, is an animated 90-second spot featuring scientist Rick, who excitedly wakes up grandson Morty telling him he will become a ‘football star’ through new football/soccer boots.
Rick then takes him to his lab, where ‘consensual science’ has Mo Salah transferring his gifts of ‘dribbling and finishing’ and Vivianne Miedema giving the power of a striker to Morty via a pair of Adidas boots.
After disappearing through a portal they then feature in the ‘International Unlicensed Cup on Earth.’ Rick scores and goes on to win the ‘Best player on the Earth award’ – courtesy of the shoes.
FASTER IN ALL DIMENSIONS ⚽
Watch as @mosalah and @viviannemiedema join forces to make Morty the best football/soccer player in all dimensions. Depending on what place you are looking at this post...#FasterInAllDimensions pic.twitter.com/7i4yuLd83D
— Rick and Morty (@RickandMorty) July 19, 2022
Adidas has also roped in Post Panic to develop the portal featuring animation, 3D and live action.
Gonzalo Calvo, global director of brand communication, communities and culture at Adidas, said: “Consumers told us two things very clearly when we were building this campaign: one was that football is getting faster, but the other was that they felt there was room for sports brands to reflect the fun in the game. With these things in mind, we were confident that, collectively, this was a real chance to push the limits.”
“It was always important to us that the narrative weaved throughout the entire campaign,” continues Jeremy Pedro, art director. “As big fans of cinematic universes, no detail was too small when it came to connecting the dots. Every piece of content serves its own purpose but, when combined, tells a much bigger story from start to finish.”