Beats By Dre World Cup Spot | Colored by Brandon Chavez

June 5, 2014 Jun. 5, 2014

Good lord, Beats by Dre is getting great at sports commercials.

We wrote at length last month about how the music company and ad agency R/GA have teamed up to make some of the year’s best sports ads—with Kevin Garnett, Colin Kaepernick, Richard Sherman and Cesc Fabregas. But nothing could prepare us for this five-minute World Cup extravaganza. It’s about pregame rituals, yes, but Beats is proving to be surprisingly adept at all aspects of the sports ad game—which at times like these is supposed to be the purview of Nike and Adidas.

The top star in “The Game Before the Game,” fittingly for this World Cup, is Brazil’s Neymar Jr. His pregame ritual involves talking to his father, whose pep talks are so inspiring, you’d think an agency copywriter wrote them (well, yeah). Among the other stars featured here: Spain’s Fabregas, who kisses the ring his girlfriend gave him exactly four times; Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, who kisses the tattoo on his wrist of his son and daughter’s names; and Mexico’s Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, who prays on his knees as his father taught him. (Elsewhere you’ll see Bacaray Sagna, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Blaise Matudi, Daniel Sturridge, Jozy Altidore, Mario Gotze and Robin Van Persie.)

Read the full article on Adweek >>>