Visa is working with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a campaign that will bring him to the World Cup in Russia this summer, according to John McCarthy of THE DRUM. The work has "synced with a swelling" of U.S. "love" for the new Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy forward and intrigue around his rumored "(and debunked) return to the Swedish national side." The 36-year-old striker "recently whipped up a media storm" when he said on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" that he would be "attending" the World Cup -- "the assumption being that he would be coming out of retirement to play for Sweden." Coaches "confirmed this was not the case." Visa Chief Brand & Innovation Marketing Officer Chris Curtin said that the brand "was not responsible for Zlatan's claims on Kimmel Live -- nonetheless, his comments have done no harm for its campaign." Curtin: "We didn't orchestrate that. Like the world, we were just watching." Working with AMV BBDO London, Visa "tapped into this fan curiosity in an authentic way." It "playfully, and with agility, leaned on the Ibrahimovic World Cup conundrum." The campaign, called "Visa's Ultimate Fifa World Cup FOMO," sees the player "vow to qualify for the World Cup by himself at a press conference." From there, Visa "ferries him towards Russia in his own bus -- atop a gilded throne." Ibrahimovic says in the ad, "A FIFA World Cup without me is not worth watching." Curtin said, "Zlatan is the ultimate personification of FOMO [fear of missing out]. We think he is the absolute perfect person to bring that concept to life." Curtin added that Visa is "looking to deliver video" that "doesn't feel like advertising, but feels endemic to the programming." The financial brand could be paying as much as £100M ($135M) a year for its FIFA partnership, so it is "looking to integrate as much as possible with the proceedings." When asked whether the partnership is "worth the money, does it still have the same draw?," Curtin said, "These global sports properties remain the last unchallenged bastion of appointment viewing, they have the biggest audiences in the world, the events themselves stand for things that Visa stands for" (THE DRUM, 5/10).
