NIKE
— SHOW DEM
Football's got boring. Stands filled with investors and canapés. Tactics are king, sideways passes are in, swagger and showing-off is out. Soul has been swapped for science. Or as fans say, THE GAME'S GONE.
But there's one place where the squares haven't taken over. Where flicks and tricks still rule. Where players are free to entertain and audacious moves aren't banned, they're celebrated (looking at you, Brazil, wtf?) - AFRICA!
In the run up to the Africa Cup of Nations, we launched a campaign with Nike to answer its critics and remind the world that African football is the football football needs.
The campaign kicked off with Nike appointing Jay-Jay as its unofficial Chief Flair Officer. As his first act in the job, football’s new CFO published a letter to the football community, announcing the role and gifting Naija ‘96 jerseys as an invite to see where the game went.
To follow, we released a suite of TikTok skill challenges featuring Okocha, Saibairi, Ayisi, Nicolas Jackson and creators from across the continent, encouraging the next generation of players to “Show dem”.
Comments poured in from all corners: fans calling it the most refreshing football work they’ve seen, creators remixing every line and moment, and voices across social saying it finally showed the world African football the way it deserves to be seen.
And after the tournament Jay-Jay came back to wrap it all up.