Soccer Helps Africans Overcome Adversity in Guinness 'Made of Black' Ads

Guinness is continuing its Africa-focused "Made of Black" campaign with a series of beautiful films that focus around soccer, and how the game has helped individuals in Africa to overcome adversity. The campaign, which supports the brand's sponsorship of sub-Saharan Africa TV network DSTV's coverage of English Premier League soccer, includes a film seen here, in which a disabled man named Goodluck, from Nigeria, tells how his love of soccer helped to find love, friendship and happiness, despite losing his leg. (In one very compelling scene, he goes swimming in the sea with a group of disabled friends, all in black swimming shorts.) Another film features Tabitha, a Kenyan, recounting how after her husband's death she become a professional referee, despite overwhelming social pressures. Elsewhere, Gaelle from Cameroon explains how she found international success in women's soccer and Wisdom from Ghana reveals how, despite suddenly going blind, he still pursued his passion for soccer and found a new lease of life through his team. Created by AMV BBDO, the four films were directed by Wilkins & Maguire at production company Stink. James Laxton and Alex Bickel, who both worked on "Moonlight," were director of photography and colorist respectively. Wilkins & Maguire commented in a statement: "The challenge with these films was to compress the life journey of these individuals into a small and powerful narrative. Finding their transformation moment was the key; the moment they are no longer victims, but heroes." The campaign will run for 12 months across DSTV; YouTube internationally; Facebook nationally; and local TV stations across Africa.

Soccer Helps Africans Overcome Adversity in Guinness 'Made of Black' Ads

Featured Stories