From Couch To Crouch.

This is a brilliant new ad by Saatchi and Saatchi for Visa. The world cup is upon us so we are settling into a stream of Football related adverts by the sponsors. This is fine, as long as they all keep up the standard that this one sets. Read what Saatchi had to say about the ad, concept and shoot.

‘Unlike some, Visa has no footballer on their books to rely on. Instead the clever creatives at Saatchi and Saatchi had a brilliantly simple idea,’ he says. A slobby couch-potato football fan runs all the way to the stadium in South Africa, getting him into shape on the way. Like all the best advertising ideas, says Wight, ‘it can be described in a single sentence.’

‘Visa gets you closer to the World Cup’ was the original brief to Xander Smith and Jonathan Santana at Saatchi & Saatchi. They decided to literally show one fan’s journey from Europe to South Africa, armed only with his Visa card.

The shoot took nine days across various locations in Morocco and South Africa – home country to both Smith and Santana. ‘Some scenes were shot in a game reserve. It was hilarious to see lads from Leeds and London, fresh off the plane, running next to real rhinos with lions around the corner,’ said Smith. The main actor was also chased by an ‘obtuse ostrich’ a couple of times, he adds.

Our hero is actually played by three actors – one lead and two body doubles. The production team also had a movement specialist on set who taught the actors how to run correctly and in the same way to make it look seamless.

Football obsessed director Chris Palmer used the same tracking shot throughout, always moving form left to right. The runner subtly transforms from zero to hero as he races to the World Cup in South Africa, ending up in Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

‘The transformation of an overweight fan to a goal-scoring hero is handled with polish and skill by Palmer,’ says Wight, who particularly liked the goal celebration at the end. ‘Maybe Rooney will be able to copy this bit,’ he adds.