8 Cricket Advertisements which epitomize the game in the real sense

8 Cricket Advertisements which epitomize the game in the real sense: Cricket Advertisements have always played a vital role in promoting and boosting cricket and the cricketers have been a favourite of the endorsers. There are occasions when you wait for the ads as much as the cricket action and that’s when you know that the brands have come up with a brilliant idea. The advertisers instil a different level of enthusiasm in fans prior to a league or event with such innovative and heart touching ideas. Showcasing their love for cricket through the videos is one of the best ways of promotion and whatever the cons maybe, the audience are loving it. Here are 8 Cricket Advertisements which epitomize the game in the real sense: 1. The Friendship series: India v Pakistan has always been a marquee affair, an ad was sure to hit television sets whenever a bilateral series was announced between the arch rivals. Here’s a commercial filming of the Indian dressing room before the India Pakistan friendship series in 2004. Sourav Ganguly the Indian captain, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Mohammad Kaif featured in this Pepsi commercial. The team talks about what gifts they have in store for their rivals since it is a friendship series and Ganguly claps taunting them saying, “Wah kya team hai.” The players’ attitude suddenly changes when they are asked to share Pepsi with the Pakistan team. Also Read – 5 Most popular cricket PC Games The ad ends with Sachin talking about the love for the game. 2. Cricket is contagious: The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 theme song is stuck in our minds as fresh as a daisy. Featuring the New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson, great players of the two teams that made it to the finals. Covering shots that show kids from all around the world playing gully cricket, from using stones as wickets to drawing one on the walls and tapping the ball, from beaches to streets and deserted forts. Emotions, cheers, prayers, the gully run up to dressing room tension, the nets to streets, tabs to televisions every corner of the world breathes cricket. No words can describe the emotions this ad fills us with, watch and you will know. 3. Pepsi for the Winner: The Pepsi commercial before the World Cup 2011, stars Pakistani cricket faces waiting on the airport to board a flight which is delayed. Shahid Afridi comes up with an idea to grab Pepsi as Abdul Razzaq accompanies him. On asking for 5 Pepsi bottles Afridi is given just one. That’s when the game starts, as Younis Khan declares “winner ki Pepsi” (The Pepsi goes to the winner). A cricket loving lad hands over the ball to Younis and is in return handed over the Pepsi with strict instructions not to drink it. Umar Gul bowls the first ball to Razzaq who is run out by Younis Khan. Next, the Rawalpindi express Shoaib Akhtar comes on to bowl to Lala (Afridi), who smashes the ball and everyone ducks. The fan with Pepsi heroically catches the ball and dismisses Afridi winning the Pepsi and asking the team to take him for the World Cup. Afridi and Akhtar’s expressions afterwards are worth a watch. 4. Cricket v Football: The Cricket v Football debate never ends and this commercial is an example. It features 3 of the most famous footballers Chelsea’s Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres and Indian cricket stars Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh. The footballers come on the practice ground to grab a Pepsi where Indian cricketers are present. As soon as they take out a bottle it is snatched by Virat who challenges the footballers that if they want Pepsi they got to play cricket. They all gear up, Drogba is handed over a cricket ball and Kohli is on strike waiting for the delivery. The bowling however, is done in a different style by the three football legends. Drogba kicks the ball to Frank Lampard who shows his skills tumbling the ball with his feet and kicks it towards Fernando Torres who treats the ball same way and finally passes it to the bowler who kicks the ball straight towards Kohli striking off the bails. The trio celebrates that when Mahi come in as the umpire declaring it a ‘No ball.’ The cricketers burst into a laugh as Torres pops up the question “what is a no ball?” Dhoni replies by snatching the Pepsi and saying ” it means no Pepsi.” 5. What is your idea of fun when in traffic? The scene opens with a traffic struck Mumbai, what seems like a bunch of domestic cricketers in white jerseys waiting for the bus to start while one of them climbs up to the roof of the bus with a ball in hand and is soon accompanied by another member who stands at the other end with a bat and the game starts. The first delivery after being hit fiercely lands inside a house and soon everybody is involved, every vehicle’s roof around the bus is occupied by the members of the bus, along with the office going lads who join in. Then enter Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan the Indian pacers watching and enjoying the game. Nike has come up with one of the best ads that show how deeply India is rooted with cricket. The game continues with a new addition every time and that is when the traffic starts moving and the game stops until suddenly, a shout from the roof of a distant bus alerts the batsman on the other bus roof and the ball is bowled, the stroke is played and what better way to say, “just do it.” 6. Every Yard counts: Another beauty by Nike showing cricket is in every corner of India. In a country of over a billion, the streets of India are sprouting with cricketers in every city, town and village. The size of the field, the things they use as wickets, the ground they are playing on, nothing matters when it comes to the passion with which gully cricket is played. The series of fast changing pictures that are used in this video has not failed to capture anything. The shoes, slippers and bare feet, extra dive and the huddled jumps everything is packed and delivered to us in this 1 minute commercial. 7. ‘India ka Cricket’: This advertisement of the Reliance company features kids who sing a song to describe the feelings of Indian fans in a match. From the claps on the wickets taken to the abuses hurled when the ball reaches the boundary every emotion find a place in this well rhymed commercial. This is India’s cricket fever described in a song with the kids who add an element of charm. 8. We Won’t Give it Back: As the winners of World Cup 2011, the build up to the 2015 tournament kicked off with just one slogan for every Indian fan, ‘We Won’t Give It Back’. This advertisement featuring Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan and Umesh Yadav instilled the confidence in the Indian fans of wining the World Cup yet again. A persuasive commercial that has touched the heart of every Indian.