China Entertainment 1997

London, England

Many football bars are still discussing and recalling the Champions League final a few days ago and imagining England's World Cup in the near future.

"Zinedine Zidane's The Fairy Tail is so great. I've rewatched it dozens of times and I still can't get enough of it."

"Barack and Bayer Leverkusen are so miserable. They have won the Bundesliga, German Cup, and Champions League three times in a row. Does this German tank still have fighting spirit?"

"Haha, it's best for us to meet the German team and punish them severely."

A big man held up a beer and laughed, and a cheerful atmosphere suddenly filled the bar.

For English fans, not to mention the sworn enemies of the domestic home team, they are happiest when the foreign German team is frustrated, and the level of hostility is even higher than that of France, their century-old enemy.

In most cases, the German team's results are better than those of England, and it is the former who suffer most in the England-Germany war.

So when the German team is mentioned, English fans always hate it with itch.

The situation was different in the 2002 World Cup. The gap between the lineups of England and Germany was relatively large.

On England's side, the announced roster includes famous European players such as Seaman, Owen, Beckham, Scholes, Gerrard, Asli Cole, and Campbell.

As for the German team, the most famous and powerful ones are Kahn and Ballack. The others are either already in their twilight years or are new stars in their early years.

On paper, England beat Germany. In the previous World Cup qualifiers, they even scored 5:1, which made England fans have a high attitude towards the German team.

I wish the two sides could really compete in the World Cup, with England showing off its might and sending the German team back home.

Raymond, who just turned 22, was also one of the guests who laughed along.

He is a die-hard Manchester United fan and is not a very popular fan in London, especially in the bar downstairs of his residence because it is a gathering place for Arsenal fans.

In the current Premier League environment where Arsenal and Manchester United have two players, the fans of the two teams are relatively hostile. Although Raymond would not be beaten when he comes over, he is still treated a little coldly.

Only during the national team competition, especially during the World Cup and European Cup, everyone is an England fan, and the opposition to each other is much less intense.

Raymond can also blend in comfortably, without having to find a neutral fan bar that is far away.

Ramon, who was slightly drunk, had a bit of talk with the Arsenal fans. He was about to go to the toilet to put some water in and find a girl to flirt with. When he passed by the aisle, he saw the TV on the screen playing Beckham's free kick. Highlights.

As a die-hard Manchester United and Beckham fan, Raymond stopped immediately and admired his idol's dreamy full-moon scimitar.

During a highlight episode, just as Raymond was about to leave, he heard several guitar playing in the video that was immediately broadcast on the TV. The brisk and bright melody made Raymond stop slightly and looked up at the TV.

An Asian man is holding a guitar and playing it while standing in front of a wall that is painted with red and blue patterns and written in multiple languages.

Raymond couldn't understand anything else, but he could still recognize a little bit of English and the French he had taught himself.

"Waving Flag" - Chris Tsao

"Victory" - Chris Cao

When the scene changed, Cao Xuan and several other people were sitting in front of several drums, beating and beating passionately.

The drums here include Chinese, Japanese, European, African, and South American drums, and the drummers include Cao Xuan, two white people, black people, and a Latino.

The rhythmic drum beat stopped Raymond completely. When other people in the bar heard the noise, they also looked up and looked at the TV.

In Africa, in a dilapidated thatched house, a group of children are watching in front of the TV, and an older child is playing with the antenna.

In China, someone called friends in a residential house. Everyone wore jerseys and camouflage and sat on the sofa watching TV.

In Europe, in a football bar, everyone was drinking happily, watching the football matches on TV, pumping their fists and shouting.

In South America, in a large square, tens of thousands of people stared at the big screen in front of the square, looking nervous, and then cheered and embraced each other warmly.

It is worth mentioning that no matter which scene it is in, the hands of African children, the tabletop of the living room in China, the background wall of the bar, and the chess pieces flying in the square are all Pepsi-Cola or related patterns.

The fast editing and lively drum prelude raised the audience's mood little by little. Then Cao Xuan's figure appeared in a green field and the first lyrics were sung.

"Ahhhooo ahhoooo——"

The melodious and heroic singing voice, without any lyrics, just the singing voice and melody, makes people want to start swaying their bodies.

And then the main song showed that this desire to dance became more and more uncontrollable.

“Give me freedom, give me fire, give me reason, take me higher

Give me freedom, give me passion, give me a reason to fly higher

See the champions, take the field now, unify us,; make us feel proud

Toward the championship, come on now, you make me clear and make us proud

…”

As he sang, Cao Xuan, who was on the green field in the video, kicked the football into the air.

The next second, on the same green field, a person jumped up and stopped the ball with his chest. His body stretched smoothly, and the camera turned to the front. It was Real Madrid star Zidane wearing a French jersey.

"Wow!"

Many bar patrons exclaimed, and the star's appearance combined with various previous Pepsi elements also made them understand the nature of this video.

After receiving the ball, Zidane rushed forward with the ball, but was knocked away by a short bald man. Zidane then counterattacked and the two began to struggle.

And this bald short man was the Brazilian international Roberto Carlos. In the end, Roberto Carlos won and saved the big football player.

Shortly after the kick, the midfielder was grabbed by someone, none other than Arsenal's gun king Henry.

The moment he appeared, the bar, a gathering place for Arsenal fans, suddenly burst into cheers.

Although it was just an advertisement, the appearance of many football superstars in succession had already made them excited, not to mention the lively and passionate songs. Many people in the bar had already begun to squirm slightly.

The 25-year-old Henry stood there, looking over with affectionate eyes, and saw the strong Brazilian men around him who were attacking fiercely.

Aiming at the gap, the king of guns waved his foot vigorously and made a through ball. The next second, the ball was taken by Scholes, wearing an England jersey.

Scholes swung left and right, passed two people, and was finally brought down by the Dutch boar Davis.

In the next shot, in front of the free kick and the wall, a handsome guy with blond mullet hair appeared in front of the football. The bar, including Raymond, once again cheered enthusiastically. It was England captain Beckham.

In the World Cup preliminaries in Japan and South Korea, Beckham's full-moon scimitar kick against Greece lifted England into the World Cup and made him the darling of the entire country.

In England, Beckham is now incredibly popular, and even around the world, Beckham and Ronaldo are the most famous stars at this time.

This commercial also gave Beckham huge popularity and enough respect to shoot several scenes repeatedly, and until he scored a free kick, the climax of the entire song was stuck here.

"WE ALL SAY

let's talk together

When I get older I will be stronger

When I grow up, I will become stronger

They'll call me freedom Just like a wavin' flag

They set us free like that flag flying

…”

After scoring the goal, Beckham performed a passionate slide and kneeled down. His teammates Scholes, Butt, and Neville from the national team all around him rushed over to celebrate together.

The camera flashed past the bars in Europe and thatched houses in Africa, and even the houses in China and the big squares in South America. Except for the one who was scored, everyone else was happy for the goal. This is the charm of football.

After Beckham celebrated, he took the kick again and fired a shot into the sky. The ball returned to Cao Xuan on the green field. Cao Xuan fired a shot, but was tightly held by a pair of gloves.

The messy-haired Lion Kahn roared wildly, and then threw the football in his hand. The next person to catch the ball was Argentina's white wizard Veron.

For Cao Xuan's promotional song, Pepsi-Cola spent a lot of money and almost all the stars it signed.

For example, Manchester United and Real Madrid are almost a package. As long as the stars participating in this World Cup have basically shown their faces, other teams have also appeared sporadically. In total, there are almost more than 20 famous players.

In order to allow them to play against each other in the air, the photographers and editors worked hard, and then the famous scenes of Cao Xuan passing the ball to Zidane and playing against Kahn appeared.

This is actually Cao Xuan's "private product". It was nothing else, so he just asked the director to add two scenes to "compete" with these top superstars.

In the original plan, there was also a clip of Cao Xuan saving Beckham's free kick, but later for plot considerations, this scene was not used.

In addition, due to Cao Xuan's identity, he should invite national football players to play, but the national football team has a contract with Coca-Cola, and even launched a joint Coca-Cola commemorative can.

It's no wonder that Cao Xuan didn't invite the national football team. The two families were really bitter enemies and couldn't come to an agreement.

In fact, each of these stars has a limited playing time. Beckham has the most time, which is only about 15 seconds. There is also a part of the MV that mainly captures the atmosphere of the World Cup in various places. After all, it is a promotional song, so it is impossible to ignore this most important element. .

At the end of the MV, Cao Xuan led a group of black, white, and Asian children to dance and play football on the beach.

The passionate singing has gradually become melodious, but what remains unchanged is the power to maintain eternal passion.

"And everybody wrll be singing it

We must sing it to the end of the world

And everybody wrll be singing it

We must sing it to the end of the world

…”

The MV ended, a black screen appeared, a red and blue Pepsi can appeared, a line of words appeared on the can, and a clear male voice recalled.

"Life is like football, maybe you won't always score goals, but you will always be on the road!"

Many viewers who were deeply attracted by the MV and singing finally came to their senses, and Raymond couldn't help but complain.

“When did Pepsi’s advertising reach this level?”

"Their ability to survive has always been good."

"But speaking of it, this song is really good. It seems to be sung by an Asian. Japanese? Or Korean?"

"I seem to see Chinese and the five-star red flag. They should be Chinese."

"Where else can I hear this song? I haven't heard it enough."

"I really should let those damn singers listen to it. What is a football song? It makes me want to kick my feet."

"Is there anyone to play football with?"

"Forget about kicking. I have a live situation at home. Do you want to play a few games?"

"Good! Let's go."

At this time, similar scenes not only appeared in the United Kingdom, but also in Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and even Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay in South America, Asia, China, Japan, South Korea, and Africa...

Pepsi-Cola's huge channel capabilities, coupled with the fiery atmosphere approaching the World Cup, allowed the song to quickly spread around the world and become popular.