Nike believes in Chinese-dominated football future

Nike's most recent advertisement which debuted on social media in China last week hit 170 million views only a few days after launching. Nike have a strong belief that football will be highly dominated by Chinese players in future, as the countries footballing influence grows week on week. The Chinese President, Xi Jinping, is a massive football fan and advocate of developing Chinese footballing communities as well as the countries global presence in football. An example of this development is Chinese companies accounting for over a third of advertising costs from the FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Even though China wasn’t in the World Cup this year, it saw the biggest boost in ad spend during the event.

And while their time in the spotlight has yet to come, the country is looking to the future with optimism — and Nike is optimistically looking to the Chinese future even more so.

In their latest spot for China, “Dare to Become,” which was created by Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai, we see a future where the greatest soccer player, long after Cristiano Ronaldo retires, is now Chinese.

It’s a world where Manchester City fills their roster with Chinese players, and all of England cries after being drawn in a group with China. It’s quite the ambitious view of the future, “but one a younger generation of Chinese players believe in and are working to create,” said the brand in a release.

Check out the spot:

The film reached 170 million views in only a few days after launching on Chinese social media sites, a sign that it clearly struck a chord.