Budweiser marks new partnership with Lionel Messi with a spot refuting his critics

Film by Deutsch also reveals the brand's limited-edition bottle celebrating the Barcelona captain

Published On
Sep 09, 2020

Editor's Pick

There's big news involving soccer legend Lionel Messi this week. Not only is he not (as rumored) leaving Barcelona, the Argentinian star has signed up to a long-term partnership with Budweiser. 

To mark the three year deal, which involves Bud making a limited edition Lionel Messi bottle, the Anheuser-Busch InBev brand has created a new global ad via Deutsch New York, which refutes some of the criticism the player has received over the years.

Titled "They Say," it illustrates some of the negative things "they" have said about Messi over the course of his career, from early talk of him being too small, and rumors that "moving to Spain at 13 would break him," to recent allegations that "his heart's not in it" and "he's stopped loving the city." It then goes on to illustrate what Messi says to that, which is to boot a ball into goal, followed by Bud's "Be a King" tagline and "Never give up on greatness."

The film also reveals the soon to be released limited-edition Lionel Messi bottle (it's available across eight markets: India, Columbia, Argentina, Chile, China, Vietnam, Spain and Russia.) The label design incorporates a quote from Messi on what it takes to fulfill your potential: “life is about choices, sacrifices, determination and hard work."

Credits

Date
Sep 09, 2020
Client :
Budweiser
Agency :
Deutsch-New York
VP Global Brands :
Richard Oppy
VP Global Marketing :
Steve Arkley
Global Advertising Director :
Andrew Oosterhuis
Global Marketing Director :
Chad Lafeldt
Head of Global Partnership Marketing :
Eelco van der Noll
Chief Creative Officer :
Dan Kelleher
Executive Creative Director :
James Cowie
Creative Director :
Heather English
Sr. Art Director :
Jeffrey Rozman
Sr. Copywriter :
Chris Wernikowski
Sr. Copywriter :
Michael Philbin
Sr. Art Director :
Ashley Centrella
Sr. Designer :
Chris Kelley
EVP Director of Integrated Production :
Joe Calabrese
Sr. Producer :
Andrea Segura
SVP Director of Art & Print Production :
Sarah Manna
Associate Producer :
Taylor Kigar
Chief Strategy Officer :
Matt Baker
VP Group Strategy Director :
Andrew Quay
Senior Strategist :
Alex Rakestraw
Group Account Director :
Andrew Arnot
Account Director :
Madalyn McLane
Account Executive :
Hannah Duchardt
Project Manager :
Rich Gladis
Director of Integrated Business Affairs :
Maria Taris
Group Director, Integrated Business Affairs :
Stacy Schwartz
Sr. Business Manager :
Nikki Balekjian
Editor/Sound Design :
Jim Helton
Assistant Editor :
Geoff Hastings
Assistant Editor :
Dillon Stoneburner
Executive Producer :
Sarah Roebuck
Assistant Producer :
Andrea Cantor
Head of Production :
Penny Ensley
VFX/Flame Artist :
Steve Miller
VFX Producer :
Kyra Hendricks

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