Barilla sees Roger Federer make good on longstanding promise to young fan
Roger Federer has fulfilled a promise made five years ago by accepting a challenge laid out by one of his youngest supporters on behalf of sponsor Barilla.
First propositioned during a US Open press conference in 2017, Federer “pinky promised” young Zizou that he would hit the court for a one-on-one tennis match once he was older. Now the tennis ace has made good on his pledge by standing on the opposite side of the net for a belated game organized by Boomerang Publicis on behalf of Italian food brand Barilla.
‘The Promise’ was conducted in the utmost secrecy, with Boomerang pulling out all the stops to fly a confused Zizou to Switzerland for the match, where he had no inkling who his opponent was until the very last moment.
Dio Santos, creative director at Boomerang, said: “Zizou’s reaction to seeing Federer was so heartwarming and he delivered much more than we expected. It gave the film the life and personality it deserved.”
Gianluca Di Tondo, chief marketing officer at Barilla, added: “At Barilla, we love the human aspect and the values of sport, and we have always tried to incorporate them into our way of doing business and developing products.”
Paving the way for the US Open in three weeks, the uplifting YouTube and social media campaign shows that age need be no barrier in the sport.
Federer previously took a starring role in a global campaign for Barilla Pasta to show that the kitchen is the life and soul of any house party.