Roblox among a slew of brands taking part in the World Cup festivities.
The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup kicks off today in Australia and New Zealand and brands from Coca-Cola to Roblox are getting in on the action with campaigns and activations for the soccer tournament.
Below, a look at some of the biggest campaigns running as the U.S. looks to win its third straight title.
Also read: A marketing guide to the Women's World Cup
And: Why the Women's World Cup is Twitter's next big ad test
Editor's note: This story will be periodically updated with new ads.
Volkswagen, which sponsors the U.S. team, features Alyssa Thompson, Andi Sullivan and Ashley Hatch in two ads. In the first one, called “The Juggle,” Thompson shows off her impressive ball skills, while the second spot, called “Nailed It,” shows Sullivan and Hatch using the Atlas as a practice tool. Johannes Leonardo handled the campaign, which will air during Fox’s and Telemundo’s Cup coverage.
Megan Rapinoe stars in a Google Pixel ad called “Fixed on Pixel” that continues the brand’s efforts to spotlight features such as “photo unblur” that were also highlighted in a Super Bowl ad. Google also plans to release a spot on July 26 paying tribute to Rapinoe, who recently announced her retirement. The ads were created in-house.
The bank is continuing its push to drive more interest, awareness and dollars to women’s sports with a new Women’s World Cup ad campaign “Monumentally.” The 60-second spot includes athletes such as soccer player Sophia Smith, lacrosse player Kasey Choma and tennis star Billie Jean King. “The game has changed and it won’t ever be the same,” a voiceover says in the spot, over video of girls and women competing in sports such as gymnastics, soccer and basketball. Thead will air on Fox through the World Cup and on CBS Sports and Paramount+ for the NWSL season. Anomaly, Ally’s creative agency of record, worked on the campaign.
Nike teamed up with longtime creative agency of record Wieden+Kennedy for its World Cup campaign, “What in the Football.” The spot begins with a father and daughter waiting in suspense as Brandi Chastain attempts what ended up being the World Cup-winning penalty kick in the 1999 Women's World Cup.
The scene takes an amusing turn when the father jumps out of his seat, cheering so hard that he slips on a banana, knocking him unconscious. Twenty-four years later, the father (who is now a grandfather) wakes up from an apparent coma as his daughter tries to catch him up for the latest World Cup, pointing out players such as the U.S.'s Sophia Smith and Alex Morgan, as well as Canada's Kadeisha Buchanan, among others. A two-minute and 30-second version of the ad is shown below.
In this 30-second spot, Coca-Cola partners with the FIFA Women's World Cup to highlight women soccer players worldwide. The commercial features American player Alex Morgan, New Zealander player Katie Bowden and Australian player Ellie Carpenter—and we learn a little about where each player came from before being on soccer's biggest stage. The ad is a continuation of the brand's “Believing is Magic” campaign from Interpublic’s Mercado McCann and WPP which kicked off for the men's tournament last year.
Adidas's World Cup campaign, “Play Until They Can't Look Away,” features a who's who of women and male soccer players passing a soccer ball around to each other in a frenetic 30-second spot from TBWA/ London.
The lineup of stars include Alessia Russo, Lena Oberdorf, Mary Fowler and Lionel Messi among others, leading to a bit of a mess in a grocery store.
Frito-Lay's in-house creative agency created and produced its 84-second spot, “Taste of Greatness,” for the World Cup. The ad starts with a mother and daughter watching the Women's World Cup when the daughter asks her mother, “What makes them so good?” in reference to the women's soccer players.
The mom then lines up different Frito-Lay snacks on the table, and the snacks turn into avatars representing iconic soccer players from the past and present. The players then compete in a game against each other on the table in the living room. A Lay's chip, Cheeto and Dorito are among the snacks represented.
Some of the featured players were Mia Hamm, Crystal Dunn, Abby Wambach, Brandi Chastain, and Briana Scurry. The spot was directed by Bryan Buckley, who has also directed commercials for BMW, Hyundai, Stella and VH1.
Taco Bell and its Feed the Beat program collaborated with artists MUNA, Claire Rosinkranz and Scowl, as well as agency partners The Syndicate and Deutsch LA, to create an online concert series coinciding with the World Cup games. The event, dubbed the “Unofficial Halftime Show series,” makes no mention of the FIFA World Cup and does not appear to be sponsored by the event.
MUNA will kick off the series and perform around 11:20 p.m. ET on July 20; Claire Rosinkranz will perform around 9:50 p.m. ET on July 26; Scowl will perform around 10:50 p.m. ET on Aug. 5.
Viewers tuning into the halftime series before the show or during can enjoy $5 off a $20+ delivery order when using the promo code in the Taco Bell app. The series will be broadcast on YouTube. The Feed the Beat program helps support artists and bands.
The 30-second spot “Behind Every Number” opens with a young girl who receives her first pair of cleats with a Visa card and then makes a wish on her 5th birthday to become a soccer star. The girl eventually becomes a professional soccer player and wears the number 5 for her country.
The brand then goes on to celebrate its 20th year “supporting women in sport.”
The spot was produced by Saatchi & Saatchi Australia and directed by Beatrice Pegard, who has directed commercials for Toyota and fintech company Olliv.
To no one's surprise, Messi is getting a lot of love leading up to the World Cup. The soccer legend this time stars in Budweiser's “The World is Yours to Take,” which is a continuation of the brand's #BringHomeTheBud campaign that began during last year's Men's World Cup.
The 49-second spot from Wieden+Kennedy shows Messi reliving some of his accomplishments such as winning the World Cup in 2022, before a montage of women's soccer highlights takes over.
“Greatness is hers to take,” Messi says in his native Spanish language.
Payment app Klarna created an in-app game, “Scream For Your Team,” for the World Cup. App users will be instructed to scream at an “indicated volume in order to shoot a soccer ball into a goal,” according to a press release. Those who score three times will be entered into a draw to win various prizes, including Nike gift cards ranging from $50 to $500.
The game comes from Klarna's in-house creatives. It was produced by game maker Flarie.
Klarna is also partnering with Angel City FC to distribute free swag away to fans at upcoming watch parties for the World Cup.
The fast food chain is partnering with the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team to reintroduce its Bowls for Goals promotion. Each time the U.S. scores a goal during the Group Stage of the World Cup, a unique code for a free entrée will be shared to the national team's Twitter.
The first 2,500 fans to text the code to 888222 will receive a free digital entrée. Chipotle will also make the go-to training meals of U.S. stars Sophia Smith and Rose Lavelle available for a limited time on the Chipotle app or the chain's website.
The chain's decision to promote its campaign on Twitter comes as the app has struggled to retain advertisers under Elon Musk.
FanDuel is collaborating with North Edge Craft Coffee to create a limited edition coffee blend called FanFuel Extra Kick Coffee to help refuel fans after cheering for Team U.S. late into the early morning.
FanDuel will give away the coffee for free from branded trucks in New York, Boston, Columbus and Kansas City throughout the tournament. You must be 21 or older to get your hands on the coffee, coinciding with the legal gambling age.
The betting app, of course, is also launching promotions within its app for the World Cup. It partnered with Wieden+Kennedy's creative academy, The Kennedys, for the campaign.
The FIFA World experience in Roblox is getting an update to include new activities related to the Women's World Cup. The FIFA World Cup experience was initially launched in October 2022.
The update will include game highlights, real-time scores and, of course, more games. The effort comes as FIFA attempts to gain more popularity with the highly coveted Gen Z.
ESPNW, the network's brand aimed at female athletes, launched a 15-second spot from Arts & Letters highlighting women in sports. This commercial features Crystal Dunn, who has been a member of the USWNT since 2015, sharing her story about returning to soccer after having her baby.
“That's a W” flashes on the screen at the end of the spot.
Hyundai partnered with FIFA in its newest campaign, “Goal of the Century.” The 15-second “How Far We've Come” spot pays homage to the history of women's soccer and Hyundai Motors' 25-year-old partnership with the Women's World Cup. Jung von Matt handled the ad.
