In the six minute Nike Football film, football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo collides with a young ball boy. As his momentum takes him into the crowd while going for the ball during a match. Both Ronaldo and the boy are left dazed, and when they wake up the next morning they realize they have swapped bodies. Faced with their new reality, the characters accept their fates and move on as if a return to their former bodies is out of the question. After some comedic moments, both Ronaldo and the boy rise to the challenge of their new lives; there’s a great full-circle structure built into the concept. Because of the conventions established in films like Freaky Friday, Big, or Heaven Can Wait, the viewer is anticipating that, at some point, the swapped souls will be returned to their rightful vessels.

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most internationally renowned football players in all of the sport’s history. This is the longest shoot he has ever done, all the more impressive considering that he performed all of his own stunts. The film launched during the 2016 UEFA European Championship and included cameos from sixteen professional footballers. It is also Nike’s longest advertisement and was filmed in multiple countries in a span of over three months, lending a universally relatable and accessible spirit that connected with audiences worldwide and allowed it to become one of the most highly-viewed videos on Youtube in 2016.