Canada has to show us how to create impactful advertising: human, touching, insightful and a perfect match for the brand.

I’ve played soccer for 12 years, mostly in front of 10 fathers and the village drunk. One day, we played in the semi-final for the German Championship in my age group, right before a German Bundesliga game. 50,000 people in the stadium watching us. It was invigorating, amazing and life-changing. A dream came true. Most people playing sports never have that opportunity. They toil in obscurity until they retire. Budweiser changed that with this project and commercial.

It shows again that advertising shouldn’t be about celebrities, CGI or creative egos. Advertising should be about human insights come to life. It touched me deeply to see the players react and respond to this idea.

Congrats, Budweiser Canada, you made my day.

Below, the making of the commercial.

Twitter friend @bud_caddell let me know that the commercial is a creative copy of commercial below. He’s right. I still think Budweiser Canada made the initial concept better. Maybe it’s the human reaction of players toiling for decades in obscurity, just to be recognized for one day. Judge yourself.