So There's This Soccer Tournament That's About to Begin...

and several of my friends and I are very excited about it. We have also noted that the corporate world is equally excited about it and would like to remind you that this event is about to begin. To that end, there are many, many World Cup ads dotting the media. Also, it is nice to know that between organizing free concerts, conversing with heads of state, and releasing really good albums, Bono STILL has time to do voiceovers.

A sampling of some of the ads out there:

1.) Nike has developed and run some pretty sweet ads to go along with its Joga Bonito (I assume "beautiful game" in Portuguese, the native language of the Cup holders?) campaign. You should be able to kill about 20 minutes here.

2.) Courtesy of the blogger Kullin.net, a copy of Bono's ad discussing how the peace in the Cote d'Ivorie is a direct result of their World Cup qualification. Maybe we should have a World Cup for AIDS?

3.) Adidas has an extremely effective ad that is shown in two parts, part 1 is here and part 2 is here, that is quite fun except will not play well in America as most U.S. of A.ers will think that "them there kids speakin' Spanish is picking guys already wearing jerseys," or something like that. Thanks to Michael Ottolenghi, the best Luxembourg Jew of Italian heritage I've EVER known for dredging these up.

4.) However, one thing that the U.S. does better than ANYONE is rap. And now, in the wake of 8 Mile and the startling resurgence of Bubba Sparxxx (how many of you knew that this was a comeback?), it is okay for white people to rap. Sometimes. What is odd is when the niche markets of white rappers and U.S. soccer collide to give us Clint Dempsey a.k.a. "Deuce." Thanks to Deadspin for this gem. Oh, and Don't Tread on ME Deuce.