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Football

22nd Nov 2016

Adidas’ new #NeverFollow Paul Pogba advert is built on one big contradiction

#Marketing

Rob Burnett

“I’m Paul Pogba. You be you.”

So ends the new advert from adidas featuring the man himself, which you can watch below.

A loud, 100 miles-an-hour, brashy, flashy effort with screeching tyres, revving motorbikes, slick graphics and plenty of what I believe was termed ‘attitude’ by marketing types about ten years ago, it’s all about promoting the idea that Pogba is Pogba, and you (the buyer) should not aspire to be him, but rather you should be ‘you’ – oh – as long as you’re ‘you’ while wearing Pogba’s new Adidas boots.

It has been put out with the hashtag “#NeverFollow”. So be a unique, confident individual who strides out onto the astroturf wearing exact replicas of a football superstar’s boots.

“You. You will never be me,” Paul tells us. “You will never play like me. You won’t wear this shirt, or dance like me. You will never be me.”

Perhaps not – but you CAN wear the same boots as me (which is surely nearly as good)! Just give Adidas a load of cash and voila: you’re on your way.

#NeverFollow. (But do buy the boots).

#Marketing.

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