Nike did not just make a commercial for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It created a blockbuster. Titled "Rip the Script," the brand's sprawling short film released ahead of this summer's tournament brings together football icons Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, and Vini Jr. alongside basketball legend LeBron James, musician Travis Scott, reality star Kim Kardashian, actor Channing Tatum, and Jason Sudeikis reprising his Ted Lasso role, among others. The action unfolds against a chaotic Hollywood studio backlot. The scale is deliberate, and so is the message.
What Makes Nike's "Rip the Script" Different from Any World Cup Ad Before It?
"Rip the Script" arrives with the production value of a Hollywood movie, but Nike's goal extends far beyond creating a memorable commercial. The film transforms a chaotic studio backlot into a playground where football stars and entertainers collide, creating moments that feel spontaneous rather than carefully manufactured. According to Helena Thornton, Nike's Vice President of Brand Management, the idea was to embrace both spectacle and authenticity.
"We wanted to kind of play into the idea of Hollywood and blockbuster movies and all of the pieces, whilst also acknowledging that people today have far greater access to athletes and to singers and entertainers than maybe they've ever had before, and they also now expect to see a much more real and rawness to them, because they become accustomed to it," says Thornton.
That philosophy is visible throughout the film. Football legends such as Ronaldinho, Zlatan Ibrahimović, and Didier Drogba appear alongside cultural figures including Kim Kardashian, Channing Tatum, Travis Scott, and LISA. The casting reflects Nike's belief that football today sits at the center of a broader cultural conversation rather than existing solely within sports.
How Does "Rip the Script" Extend Beyond a Traditional Commercial?
The short film is only the opening chapter. Nike has developed roughly 185 additional pieces of content tied to the campaign, designed to live across platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, X, and Reddit. The strategy acknowledges that audiences no longer engage with a single advertisement and move on. They dissect, share, and expand stories online.
"There's actually an unreleased track in there from a huge artist, and that's a way to get people to enter content and have a different conversation," Thornton says. "You don't have to sit there and watch a 30-second advert from that particular artist saying a thing. We've actually given you something that you can truly go and discover and go and explore for yourself, and I think that really is going to be the future of storytelling."
The campaign also leans into lighter moments. One sequence features Haaland and Tatum exchanging playful banter, offering fans a side of the Manchester City striker rarely seen during competition. For Nike, those unscripted interactions are just as valuable as highlight-reel goals.
With the 2026 World Cup set to be hosted across North America, Nike saw an opportunity to rethink its approach rather than simply make a bigger version of past campaigns. The result is a project that blends football, entertainment, and digital culture into a single narrative, reflecting how fans consume sport in 2026. Instead of asking audiences to follow a script, Nike is inviting them to create their own conversations around the game.
