Who really has benefited from Messi’s supremacy over the years?
Argentina? Well, no question about it.
Barcelona? Of course.
PSG? Getting there.
Friends, family, teammates yada yada yada.
One organization that you may not mention is Adidas.
Leo has long been associated with the German athletic wear manufacturers, first linking with them in 2006 and then signing a life-term contract in 2017.
He has often been the firm’s money-getter in terms of shirt sales and has boosted Adidas’ visibility wherever it lacked.
In fact, in the lead-up to the grand finale of the tournament in Qatar, Messi’s shirts were flying off the shelves. They flew and flew and then suddenly stopped. That’s because Adidas had run out.
The biggest sportswear manufacturer in the world had run of out shirts. Not just in Qatar. Not just in Buenos Aires. Everywhere. Online. Offline. Every. Where. Such is the pull of the little magician.
Adidas had collapsed under the sheer weight of the demand for #10.
Such overwhelming demand can only make an organization happy and ecstatic. And this was before he had won.
There is no telling how much the demand would increase now that he is a world champion.
Adidas themselves are not selling themselves short, putting out tributes and advertisements to commemorate the magnificent achievement.
Fortunately, Adidas also sponsors Argentina, so promotions have been two-fold.
But it is perhaps the massive latest advert that has attracted the most eyeballs.
The billboard that can be seen in the tweet seems outrageous and genuinely impossible at the first glance.
Using the “world’s largest picture frame”, known as the Dubai Frame, the billboard shows five different versions of Messi, perhaps denoting the five different world cups that he has played.
It is a moving 3D billboard with visuals getting visible as you look at it from different angles.
Ground-breaking stuff.
Only, it is not real.
Turns out, it is a CGI job, made on a computer. Only this is not made by a random programmer or a designer but apparently commissioned by Adidas itself.
And when you think about it, it makes sense.
The Dubai Frame is hollow, and such a billboard would require a giant canvas. Secondly, such an effect is possible on a small surface but is unheard of and perhaps even impossible on this scale.
While this being real would have collectively blown minds irrespective of who you support or even if you don’t care about the sport, the CGI, while a downgrade, is also very fluid and clearly a job well done.
The video is real enough to fool a lot of people but surely people will soon realise that this was indeed a ‘fake’.
This is not the first time Adidas has used CGI to advertise Messi.
In this clip, the same five versions of Messi are seen training and having a good time.
It is nice to see companies using new technology to put out quality content and sponsor their players in the best possible manner.
They are opening new doors and avenues and we can’t wait to see what comes next.
