The Rugby World Cup in twelve commercials or more

Only ten days to go before the Rugby World Cup 2011 kicks off. And even if rugby hasn’t the global media potential of football, it still has the power to attract a lot of fans and brands’ attention in the key countries where such sport is king. So I would say, it’s a great time to see great creativity. In this post I’ve tried to collect the TVCs that have been released over the past few months to celebrate the event plus some golden goodies from the past. Please send me you suggestions for additional ones, as I’m sure I’ve missed a lot of them.

The Match Fit series by DDB New Zealand for Sky Sports, the official broadcaster is pretty awesome as it takes a unique angle to the event. It started a few months ago with this “recruitment” ad…

… and it continued recently with this spectacular slow motion follow-up.

But the best in the series is probably The Commentator one

The most controversial spot for this year’s event is without any doubt “Abstain for the Game” by Telecom who tried to call on fans to abstain from sex over the Rugby World Cup. The TVC generated a lot of buzz in New Zealand, and it was eventually canceled after a few days of violent debate in the public opinion.

Heineken, one of the official sponsors, is also part of the game with this TVC by Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam, which is nice but, honestly, nothing really special.

The Continental Shift, back in 2007 was way better.

And also this series of TVC produced last year in Ireland are pretty fun and emotional.

Coca-Cola takes the usual approach to World Cups with this joyful TVC celebrating the soft drink and friendship. Once again nothing new, but it’s always a nice video to watch.

MasterCard decided to go a bit more emotional, releasing a series of beautiful 2 minutes video that celebrate the sport in New Zealand, South Africa and Samoa. A bit boring maybe, but definitely very well shot.

Toshiba is also one of the official sponsors, and it’s celebrating its commitment with this TVC by Clemenger BBDO Sydney.

Looking at what Adidas has been doing, I haven’t seen this year’s commercial out yet, but digging around I’ve found this great, super emotional execution for the 2007 edition.

Last but not least, this pretty amazing video tribute to rugby by Graham Love using Lego.