Egyptians love football. A nation’s morale is dependent on the kick of a ball and a win instigates national pride and joy. After years of not qualifying for the World Cup Egyptians were hopeful that this time their national team, headed by Defense Rock Wael Gomaa, would make it.

However, this dream was short lived. Following Egypt’s loss, no one wanted to talk or think football.

At the time when no one else dared to approach the topic, Coca-Cola opted to hit the nail on its head. Partnering up with Gomaa, who had lost his chance to reach the world cup before retiring, we succeeded in proving that there is still a reason to celebrate.

Kicking off with Gomaa in despair, the VO then goes on to explain that even though Gomaa has lost his opportunity, it doesn’t mean that his namesake won’t. In the rest of the ad, Gomaa is metamorphosed into several others who can still make it to the World Cup; be it Gomaa the chef, the playboy or the peasant. Our concept capitalized on Egyptians’ tendency to overcome their mishaps by turning them into a joke, “anyone can go to Brazil, but Wael can go.”

Wael Gomaa is a particular choice and turned out to be a massive success, especially because Gomaa is known as 'THE ROCK', famous for being a humorless, hard, no bull-shit kind of man, both off and on the pitch.

It was also a brave and interesting choice to cast the captain of the team that lost (a harsh 6-1 defeat to Ghana), and have him make fun of himself, and get Coca Cola's message about football across, after Egyptians became less interested in the World Cup..

He also made for a great 'model' for the make up department, seeing that he almost looks like a shop window mannequin: a bald fit man without any facial hair, made him the perfect choice to create various characters, from banker to peasant, playboy to gypsy.