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Featured era: 2010
Write the Future
“Write the future.”
- Featured era
- 2010
- Peak era
- 2010
- Company
- Wieden+Kennedy / Nike
- Category
- Viral Videos
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On Video
Nike's "Write the Future" (full-length version)
Plays from YouTube when you press play. Views, length and date from YouTube, October 2026.
About This Video
- From:
- Nike Soccer
- Added:
- February 1, 2011
- Length:
- 2:54
What Was It?
"Write the Future" is a roughly three-minute Nike football advert made for the 2010 World Cup by Wieden+Kennedy and directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Set during World Cup matches, it shows how one moment on the pitch could send ripples through a player's whole life, and the world around him.
Didier Drogba, Fabio Cannavaro, Wayne Rooney, Franck Ribéry, Ronaldinho and Cristiano Ronaldo each get a glimpse of the future. Rooney sees one bad pass lead to riots, a crashing stock market and life in a caravan, then makes the tackle and is knighted instead. Ronaldo imagines nutmegging Homer Simpson and a giant statue in his honour. It is all set to "Hocus Pocus" by the rock band Focus.
The ad aired during the tournament and won the Film Grand Prix at Cannes Lions in 2011.
Things You Probably Forgot
- Rooney living in a caravan in an alternate future
- Tabloid headlines punning on Rooney's name
- Homer Simpson getting nutmegged by Ronaldo
- Kobe Bryant copying Ronaldinho's step-over
The Story
- 2010 "Write the Future" aired during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
- 2011 It won the Film Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions festival.
Its Legacy
The full-length version is still on Nike's football channel. It is remembered as one of the great World Cup adverts, packed with stars and jokes.
Memories
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