Cristiano Ronaldo Peforms New Move To Launch EA Sports' FIFA 18

EA Sports and agency Adam & Eve/DDB "created a new skill move performed by Cristiano Ronaldo" to launch the new FIFA 18 game, according to Brittaney Kiefer of CAMPAIGN LIVE. The move is called "El Tornado" and involves a "seamless dragback, flick and spinning volley (resembling a tornado) that has not yet been attempted in a real professional football match." An ad made by A&E/DDB shows "how the skill could flow from the game into real football and culture." After a player performs El Tornado in FIFA 18 for the first time, "it is reviewed by the gaming community and spawns attempts and spin-offs around the world" (CAMPAIGN LIVE, 9/28). AD AGE's Alexandra Jardine reported in the ad, "we see glimpses of brands" such as adidas and Coca-Cola developing their own "El Tornado" content, and rap duo Run the Jewels create their own bespoke track, "Mean Demeanor (El Tornado Mix)." It is "all going so crazy" it looks as if it is "about to break the internet, when we return to the original gamers still enjoying their FIFA on the sofa." Directed by Smuggler's Adam Berg, it is "a vibrant, rollicking blockbuster of a spot -- whose pacing and frenetic energy is reminiscent of famous sports marketer ads" (AD AGE, 9/29).

MONUMENTAL EVENT: THE DRUM's James Lester commented the annual launch is a "monumental event in the calendar" for football fans. The Premier League "buzz is insane." Being "into" football nowadays is as much about playing FIFA "with my mates as it is fighting my better half for the remote to watch Match of the Day." What it means to be truly "into" football has changed, and as FIFA "continues to expand, evolve and diversify, the brand will only grow as a cultural staple while remaining the same" as it has always been: "a footy simulator." Dragging in real-life football fans is "always a plus," but with the value of esports "weighing in at an eye-watering" $280M last year, the success of new editions is "more pertinent now than ever." Where other titles are "forced to pioneer fresh storylines, weave in celebrity cameos and constantly reinvent engines, EA has struck gold" with FIFA. It is a "tried and tested formula," and even with the prices of games increasing, FIFA 17 was "last year's best-selling release worldwide" (THE DRUM, 9/29).