From deforestation stunts to naked Ronaldo: a guide to World Cup 2014 in marketing

Nike's animated ad starring Cristiano Ronaldo
Nike's animated ad starring Cristiano Ronaldo

Following Germany's World Cup victory, Marketing rounds up the best and boldest brand activity during the month-long competition.

Kicking off with Nike, the non-sponsor sports brand revelled in recognition with its Risk Everything campaign that saw an animated version of Portugal's captain Cristiano Ronaldo stripped down to his pants.

But not all of Ronaldo's ad appearances have been world class...

As expected, Paddy Power were at the forefront, striking up debate with itsdeforestation stunt. The stunt provoked outrage from some but the brand says it was ready for the abuse.

The betting brand also waded in with some light fun-poking at Brazil after their crushing 7-1 defeat by World Cup victors Germany and at the English team following their early exit from the competition.

— Paddy Power (@paddypower) July 9, 2014

Birds Eye caught Beckham in his pants cooking fish fingers for 'Vicky'...

And, after a long run up, Samsung's Galaxy11 game pitted Earth-based footballer stars against their alien overlords. The first half ended with the Earth team trailing with the second half scheduled to land on Wednesday.

Before the World Cup kicked off, Beats by Dre's "game before the game" ad built some buzz online with an all-star line up including Brazil's Neymar.

But it was the drama around Uruguay's Luis Suarez that provided the best real-time reactions from brands, inspiring Snickers, Aldi and others to wade in on the action.

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