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Jozy Altidore’s ESPN Commercial

U.S. national team striker Jozy Altidore is back in the United States as he gets ready for the upcoming pre-World Cup training camp. He found some time to shoot a commercial for ESPN, a commercial he unveiled on Twitter.

Enjoy:

Altidore is in the New York area this weekend and will be signing autographs at the adidas Sport Performance Store in Manhattan (610 Broadway) from 12:30pm to 2pm. Wristbands will be given out to fans for the signing starting at 8 a.m.

Comments

  1. I wish after the guy said it’s an Italian shirt, Jozy would have said something like “oh, never mind”

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  2. Exactly. It wasn’t a coincidence that this aired when it did. It was intentional. It’s called “marketing.”

    And whenever I’m watching ESPN, I see lots of World Cup ads/promos. So, although it might not seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things, ESPN is doing something.

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  3. Oh, c’mon. People need to give it a break. The commercial is funny and it’s hardly cryptic. And if ESPN thought no one would get it, they wouldn’t air it.

    I like that the better part of the commercial consists of Jozy patiently waiting for the guy to take his shirt off. Brilliant.

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  4. Give the public some credit…the people watching these commercials know sports. The jersey change at the end of the match isn’t that esoteric.

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  5. I don’t think ESPN cares if no one gets it. I would be willing to bet that many people didn’t understand the Arnold Palmer commercial when he is mixing the sweet tea and lemonade but it’s hilarious. One thing it does do is get people talking and asking questions about what’s happening and opens a dialogue. When this happens, it allows people to explain to people what it’s about and opens the door to more convo about the sport to the soccer-ignorant out there.

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  6. Weird commercial.

    What is up with all of the hate for ESPN? They have the World Cup logo on the sidebars on ESPN HD everytime it’s not full HD on EVERY SHOW. I see at least one World Cup commercial every 30 minutes on ESPN networks. They have World Cup banners all over the internet.

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  7. As a soccer fan, I love the commercial !! I agree that non-soccer followers may not get it and may not even know it’s about soccer but I don’t think any commercial is going to get someone new to watch. I also agree that this must be intended for the WC because of the Italian shirt comment since they are the reigning champions. It would have been clever with England as well but not sure if it was filmed before or after the draw……..

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  8. Exactly, I got it.. and i thought it was funny as hell, that is all that matters! and if I’m with someone that doesn’t get it, then ill explain it in 2 seconds and they will think its funny as hell too!!

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  9. Many of you folks are making the mistake of thinking of EPSN as just a USA cable channel. Remember, EPSN is now televising many Premier League matches in the UK. Sports Center is watched throughout the world. Even though some people in the USA might not understand the point of the commercial, I venture to say that, if you include the world viewing audience, most of the people who watch it will get the joke.

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  10. Seriously, who cares if people don’t get it? It’s their loss. If you have better ideas then maybe you should work at the ad agency hired by ESPN. I thought this was great and in the same vein as the other ads.

    For the record, the Arnold Palmer one is awesome and ESPN’s promotion of the World Cup has been great. The sidebars on ESPNHD this morning had the WC logo and dates on them.

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  11. I think Clayton is unaware that ALL of these SportsCenter commercials have this same approach: putting athletes into low-key, pedestrian settings in the ESPN office. There’s an ironic/absurd tone to the entire campaign.

    I mean, one of the current spots has three Boston Celtics players randomly walking through the office in their team gear, with the SportsCenter staff mocking them for being dressed alike. (“They must have called each other this morning,” etc.)

    Like I say, it’s irony and absurdity: Why are three NBA players just walking among the office cubicles in their uniforms? Why is the ESPN staff “clueless” that those are team uniforms? Etc. That’s what makes the commercial amusing.

    So it’s actually pretty cool that soccer and Jozy Altidore are being featured in this mix. It’s a sign of soccer’s growing profile — and a sign of its embrace by the channel. It’s nothing to get all despondent about. In fact, it’s the opposite.

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  12. Exactly.

    Folks need to learn to recognize when soccer is being treated seriously – in a comic goofball SportsCenter way ; )

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  13. I think it is pretty cool. On the front of most Americans not understanding the trading jersey’s custom I think I would more concerned with them actually knowing who Jozy is than figuring out the trading jersey’s thing. Honestly the only American player most people probably would recognize is Donovan. But who cares. It is not like everyone gets the NASCAR ones either. As with all Sportscenter commercials I think it is clever.

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  14. What!? Maybe I do watch too much TV, but I can’t even get the theme song from their promo commercials out of my head.

    Unique thing for them is how they have to market these games – since they’ll come on in the mornings and afternoons. Soccer fan kids home on summer break won’t really need the promos, and working adults would have to DVR the games or take long lunches.

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  15. We soccer fans need to stop being such indignant whiners. We can never be pleased. When there’s not enough soccer on Sportcenter, we complain about it (rightfully so). But, when ESPN makes a funny and clever soccer commercial, we complain about that, too. Enough whining. ESPN is doing something for soccer. This is a good ad. Embrace it.

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  16. Your friends sound like huge baseball fans. Anyone with half a brain that watches soccer for 10 minutes can understand the rules of the ball going out of bounds.

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  17. Tfina:

    Because how many soccer players are featured in these ESPN commercials; Yeah, understand that this is part of their “schtick”…but the reason they chose Jozy and the reason it was released yesterday (or the day before) is leading up to the World Cup.

    That commercial doesnt air in the dead of winter. This is a World Cup ad spot.

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  18. They’ve been doing this exact ad for every sport for close to two decades now. The fact that you think this ad of all ads is somehow treating soccer different because they ‘hate’ it, shows two things:

    1) You take yourself entirely too seriously
    2) You’re totally out of touch

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  19. This commercial was shot in August before Jozy’s work permit was approved.

    But if you have any Haterade left I could use some after just seeing Findley fail to score in his 1v1 with Onstad.

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  20. FFS people, this isn’t an ad to promote the World Cup, it’s a Sportscenter ad – one of a series where they make like pro athletes are part of the company. The fact that they are mixing in a soccer player (they’ve mocked Pujols, Lebron, Clemens, etc… in those) is a good thing. ALL of those quick hit Sportscenter commercials are goofy.

    *shakes head sadly*

    Most of the commercials are on youtube (and probably even the ESPN site). The Jozy one is of a piece with the others.

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  21. Yeah I really like Josh Elliot. He did a fantastic job on SportsCenter during the Confederations Cup. He really seemed into it. And for once a ESPN anchor actually knew how to pronounce soccer players’ names

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