Football fans, people with a passing interest in the game, sunshine supporters, and haters of the game who are about to enter the worst month of your life…the time is nigh – Euro 2012 kicks off in just a few days time.

I haven’t been this excited since  Ireland last qualified for a tournament. That was 10 years ago. What that says about my life I’m not quite sure, but I won’t dwell on it too much. Rather, I’ll use this opportune time to do a quick roundup of the many Euro 2012 advertising campaigns that are currently dominating the airwaves.

To kick things off (excuse the pun) Nike’s ‘My Time is Now’ campaign. This is a big-budget, slick production that has an interactive element on Youtube.  The campaign is about the next wave of footballers coming through the ranks. It looks great, but for me lacks an emotive level that would appeal to football fans at this time. However, with 16 million views on Youtube, I’m sure there are many who disagree. Have a look for yourself here:

https://www.youtube.com/nikefootball

Captain Morgan’s Euro campaign attempts to reach out to football fans across the board. They’ve penned a sing-a-long ‘anthem’ which is generic enough to appeal to fans from across the continent, I’m sure that was the plan anyway. ‘Put ‘Em Under Pressure’ this is not, nonetheless it’s a good attempt to appeal to the football masses:

Back home one of the better campaigns is 3mobile’s ‘Support Works’. The campaign works through-the-line and is centred around the idea that we’d all do better with a little support. Online there’s a microsite where fans are presented with various ways to support the Irish team. However, for me the TV spots are the highlight of the campaign, this despite some questionable acting from our fearless leader Trap:

http://www.3football.ie/

Finally, if you’re not going to The Euros (ahem…I am) but would like to win tickets, KIA are giving you a chance to dance your way there with their Dubstep Competition. The person that dances best with a football to a dubstep track wins a trip to The Euros. I find the meeting of dubstep and football the oddest since Liza Minnelli hooked up with David Gest, but in their defence they have had a big response online. Some of you will recognise this as being that annoying ad played before Youtube videos:

Until next month, and…Come on Ireland!

Karl Waters - Copywriter

Many moons ago Karl moved to London with dreams of being a filmmaker. Several years later he returned, still dreaming. Luckily, he found and fell in love with advertising. Karl has worked in both traditional and digital ad agencies before finding his home at ICAN. Karl has a strange obsession with early 80’s Italian disco music. Karl loves writing about himself in the 3rd person. He thinks it makes him sound important.