DALLAS, Mar 18, 2008 / FW/ — Chances are you’ve caught the Sharpie commercial featuring David Beckham (unseen from the screen) making a tiny soccer ball from a golf ball, signs his name on it then tees off. Beckham and his wife Victoria might have been unsuccessful here in the U.S. in becoming a ‘beloved couple’ but the American public is accepting the soccer star as an advertising headliner. Go figure!
Americans in general are so used to being bombarded with advertising 24×7 – from television, internet and print media, including billboards from buses to taxicabs. In 2003, when David Beckham and wife Victoria tried to capture the American public’s imagination as a loving couple to rival the then ‘Branifer’ ( Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt were still married that time), the Beckham’s were unsuccessful.
Perceived by many that it was a ‘commercial’ attempt to get the American public to fall in love with them, the tide of public opinion turning against the Beckhams was not surprising. An American vernacular applies in this case, ‘ you cannot bulls**t a bulls**ter.’
Perhaps, Sharpie and the advertising agency who created the current TV spot remembers that incident because during the whole ad, no one sees the David Beckham and the voice over is missing a British accent. In fact, the voice over is the very neutral Midwest accent.
Though the TV spot is already on the airwaves, Sharpie said in its March 6 announcement of its collaboration with David Beckham that “complete details of the Sharpie-Beckham campaign, which will also include print and online advertising, promotional and in-store support, will be announced in May.”
According to the same announcement, David Beckham is going headline Sharpie’s global marketing campaign in key regions around the world, including North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
[MARI DAVIS]
Photo courtesy of Sharpie
