Adidas Releases 'The New Speed of Light' Commercial Featuring Lionel Messi

Ever wonder what it would look like if a soccer match broke out at a Daft Punk concert?

If so, Lionel Messi’s new Adidas commercial will make your day.

Titled “The New Speed of Light,” the Adidas spot begins with Messi in a blacked-out body suit, looking more like Nightman (nemesis of the Dayman) than a soccer player—but all that changes when he begins to power up.

One by one, the LED light panels on Messi’s body come alive, and he’s soon glowing like Tony Stark’s chest piece. The house lights go dark, and that’s when the magic begins, with Messi dribbling a light-up ball and weaving mind-bending tracer patterns in the gloom.

The visual effects are mesmerizing, and the fact it is Messi creating this shifting wall of colors makes the whole scene that much more awesome. He jogs, juggles and chests the ball along to the house-beat bass—an electro-house track titled “Ivory (Bloody Beetroots Mix)” by Italian producer Congorock, according to Ed Malyon of Mirror Football.

In case you forgot what the point of the commercial is (it’s easy to forget after these visuals), Adidas cuts to a shot of the shoe—the Adizero F50 Messi—when it’s all over.

Here’s a shot of Messi’s new kicks, which weigh in at a crazy light 5.8 ounces and are retailing for around $180.

Image via Adidas

“Light up the pitch” is the tagline, and while none of us are as good as Messi, it’s not hard to think a shoe that looks this good could help.

The commercial itself is a decent product as well. It’s different, it captures the attention with strong and unique visuals, and it doesn’t actually show the shoe until the end—which isn’t a bad thing.

Adidas is selling us on its creativity and its superstar, not necessarily the shoe. I’d say it passes the test with flying colors.

Join me on Twitter, where we can talk about the acid flashbacks this spot caused us. 

Follow @Dr__Carson