A huge World Cup year of football saw brands go toe-to-toe on every terrace at every game to try and create as much buzz as possible around their players. We struggled to nail down our overall favourite so here's our top ten football ads of 2014.
In our opinion these are the ten best, viral going, hit smashing, most epic football ads of the year, as well as a couple of bonus additions. Kick back, scroll down and re-live some of 2014's best ad moments on the New Year's Eve. Have a good one all, see you next year...
Nike | Winner Stays - The first ad that featured the Superfly IV was packed with all of Nike's World Cup stars plus appearances from Zlatan and Irina Shayk, you can't go too far wrong with that line-up. A blockbuster of an ad that began the countdown to the 2014 World Cup.
Nike | Turkish Magician - Another effort from Nike that deserves a mention is recruiting the acting skills of Arda Turan. Granted Turkey didn't make the World Cup but Arda Turan had celebrated one hell of a season at Atletico Madrid winning La Liga and Nike gave him an exclusive ad slot ahead of him debuting the Magista Obra in the UCL Final.
adidas | The Dream - adidas recruited their squad of stars to kick start their own World Cup party. Messi was joined by Luis Suarez, Dani Alves, Mesut Özil and Robin van Persie as the Argentine dreamed about what was to come in Brazil. Although his dream probably didn't end in an extra time final defeat...
Beats by Dre | The Game Before The Game - Beats nailed the tension of the pre-match World Cup routine with their 'Game before the Game' ad in the lead up to the tournament. If you weren't up for the World Cup before this ad you certainly were after you watched it. Epic proportions of dramatic, makes you want to lace up and start playing immediatley.
adidas | House Match - Whenever Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham are in the same place you know you're in for something special. When Gareth Bale and Lucas Moura begin to showcase their skills on the PS4 Becks and Zizou go old school and start a kick around in the house.
Nike | The Last Game - Arguably the best ad of 2014. 'The Last Game' saw Nike's player roster come together in animation form for a five minute long pre-world cup party. Team Nike, including an obese Wayne Rooney took on a team of bad guys to save football. Still don't know how Rooney's PR team signed that off, he's massive.
Nike | Mirrors - Yeah, Nike do this whole ad lark well don't they? Neymar, a load of mirrors and more step-overs than you can shake a HyperVenom at. Launched after the World Cup to celebrate a monstrous tournament for the brand and to represent the next challenge after Neymar's World Cup was ended prematurely.
PUMA | Calling All Troublemakers - Show us a man who doesn't want to go on a night out with Usain Bolt and Mario Balotelli and we'll show you a liar. PUMA don't mind an athlete with a bit of edge, an unpredictable personality, one that's not afraid to upset a few people and that was demonstrated in their 'Calling All Troublemakers' ad.
Paddy Power | Arsenal #RainbowLaces - Paddy Power's assault on kicking homophobia out of the game took on a playful approach as they recruited Arsenal stars to appear in a light-hearted film. All the player wore rainbow laces to display their support for the campaign.
BT Sport | Extended Xmas Ad - This one went by slightly unnoticed over Christmas but the extended cut is priceless. A group of carol singers belting out obscene football chants in a festively sweary football advert. Great work.
Bonus 1: Man City | Boring Milner - Slightly different direction. If you're an avid follower of the @BoringMilner account on Twitter then this one's for you. As part of Man City's Christmas calendar Milner display incredible acting skills to make a play on the account by unwrapping boring Christmas presents. Either that or he really is just very boring. #TeamMilner
Bonus 2: Grimsby Town | John-Lewis Ad - For those of you who don't follow Grimsby Town the club have got a player on their books by the name of Lennel John-Lewis. We've seen hundreds of John Lewis Christmas paradoy ads but this one beats them all for us.
Pick a winner out of those then. Any we've missed? Let us know your thoughts below.
