Famous Turkish Faces and Footballers Take Each Other on for the Uncancelled Cup

In a world where everything is cancelled, Wunderman Thompson Turkey decided to un-cancel a sports event: The Uncancelled Cup. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 global pandemic, we have all been spending more time at home. Celebrities all around the world have started to motivate people to stay home to prevent the spread of the virus. Nevertheless, as months pass by, social distancing has become harder and harder. In order to motivate our fans, we needed more than words, something like immersive entertainment that would entertain us and keep us busy. 

Last month, adidas launched the #HOMETEAM project centered around the fact that, “life does not stop, it continues at home”. Wunderman Thompson Turkey then created a branded content project that broadcasts a sports tournament in PlayStation where footballers and celebrities join from their homes. In the spirit of sports, they decided to un-cancel a canceled sports event and bring an exciting virtual football (American soccer) tournament to every home. adidas and Wunderman Thompson Turkey organised a live broadcast tournament for adidas HomeTeam, the Uncancelled Cup, broadcasted for football fans, players, and celebrities. 12 players and 12 celebrities will play in the league, and all 51 games will be live broadcasted. 

On 29th April at 8:30 pm Turkish time, the draw was broadcasted live on Instagram Live during a ceremony led by Acun, the host of Survivor. More than 125,000 people watched the draw online. The cup will officially begin on 5th May 2020. Just like the real cup, there will be live broadcasts, game commentaries, and discussions on the positions of the game, all of which can be seen on Facebook Live, IGTV, and YouTube Live. 

The Uncancelled Cup also has debate programs about the virtual league that brings the football excitement back to our lives. These leagues have all the game fixtures, teasers, game summaries of the day that we are accustomed to seeing in a real live sporting event. Fans can participate in the game with virtual cheers and virtual claps shared real time with the gamers. The games are part of a larger virtual e-sport tournament that will be aired live during the Covid-19 pandemic to create social support, joy, adrenaline and content through a website built with a 360-degree campaign approach. The content will then be distributed to consumers through one of the leading TV and digital networks in Turkey from PlayStation devices. The entire process will be monitored live by Google Analytics, and by implementing a data driven approach, Wunderman Thompson is also running adidas eCom data driven ads as well.

“It’s as raw as a real game. As spontaneous. As unexpected. It’s a tech-first and media-first campaign. The PlayStation game has become the media and real time Skypes are merged into the experience. While the game is played in real time, commentators are sharing their opinions at the same time without any lags. It’s incredibly exciting and challenging to be orchestrating such a massive experience from the limitation of our homes,” said Sami Basut, executive creative director, and Ümit Taşlı, creative directors at Wunderman Thompson Turkey.

Wunderman Thompson worked with trusted partners Amvg and MediaCom on this activation. The games can be watched at here www.uncancelledcup.com and here.